Legend of the Three Caballeros: Dark Signs of the Sun
by Green Phantom Queen
Summary: After the Three Caballeros learn of a dark force corrupting the Nazca gyroscope, they and their allies are tasked to stop a group of beings known as the Dark Signers from unleashing the wrath of the Earthbound Immortals across dimensions. (Sixth Sign: Daisy must hold the fort when she duels an envious Eugenia!) Please read and review!
1. Prologue: Call to Adventure

_All right, raise your hands if any of you out there are fans of Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds._

 _Now, keep that hand up if any of you have recently watched "The Legend of the Three Caballeros"._

 _Now for those who lowered those hands, you might be thinking "What do card games on motorcycle and Donald Duck have in common?"_

 _I am so glad you asked._

 _For those who watched the first show I mentioned, many fondly recall the tales and tragedies of the Dark Signers, souls who died with some unfinished business and revived by the Earthbound Immortals, beings represented by the famous Nazca lines found in Peru._

 _And, coincidentally, our Three Caballeros adventure to Peru and have an encounter with the Nazca lines, although not in the magnitude of darkness that the 5Ds world had to deal with._

 _So, with people making connections, I decided to take it to a logical conclusion...which is the work you see in front of you. This will be my first time to ever write something Disney related, but I am no stranger to Yu-Gi-Oh stories._

 _So yes, there will be duels taking place in this story, and for those who have never read my other works, let's get guidelines up._

 _First, all duels will start with 8000 lifepoints._

 _Second, cards from all series will appear, but I stop at Pendulum Summons for the Special Summon gimmick._

 _Third, some cards will be using anime effects when applicable. Card of Sanctity, I am looking at you._

 _As for the Dark Signers, when a new one gets formally introduced, I hope that the reader has watched the movie/show that they come from so as to get a sense as to the fate that could have been for them._

 _And, my last bit of info...keep an open mind. You never know what you'll run I to next._

 _With that, I only own the plot and nothing more. And I ask that you sit back, relax and let the show begin._

* * *

 _ **Centuries ago, I, Xandra, the Goddess of Adventure, teamed with the Three Caballeros to fight off against the evil Lord Felldrake and the monsters he unleashed upon this world.**_

 _ **But just before a decisive victory was at hand, I was sealed inside the Golden Atlas, while both Felldrake and the Caballeros vanished into history.**_

 _ **Then, one day, I was called upon once again by the descendants of the Legendary Three Caballeros, Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito Gonzales. And, while I was skeptical at first, they showed resolve, ingenuity and courage to stand up to Lord Felldrake and his descendant, Baron von Sheldgoose and their attempts to have Felldrake manifest a physical form. I truly underestimated them in a sense.**_

 _ **It ended with a final battle against Felldrake in his true form, and against all odds, they were successful. Lord Felldrake was defeated for good, Baron von Sheldgoose left for parts unknown, and the Three Caballeros had a new home where they could relax and no longer worry of the Sheldgoose line harming anyone ever again.**_

 _ **And yet...I sense that something was wrong.**_

 _ **As I recalled all of our allies who helped fight against the forces of evil, I always felt that there were more and more evils out there. If not from this world, then perhaps from another world. Would the Three Caballeros be able to stand up to them? Would I be able to help them?**_

 _ **I had no answers to those questions, but the thought of unknown evils would eventually manifest and drag all of us into a war we were not ready for.**_

 _ **And the weird thing was, the war was unlike one I had ever seen. Yes, people fought and battles were intense and fierce...but it was the weapons that were used that confused me.**_

 _ **And those weapons...they consisted of nothing but cards depicting monstrous images the likes I had ever seen.**_

 _ **So gone were swords and shields and soldiers in battle with one another. In this war, everyone used the same weapon to settle disputes...**_

 _ **And that weapon was known as "Duel Monsters".**_

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 **The Legend of the Three Caballeros:**

 **The Dark Signs of the Sun**

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 **By Green Phantom Queen**

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 **Prologue:**

 **Call to Adventure**

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Donald Fauntleroy Duck had everything.

In the span of one day, he had gone from a descendant of the legendary Three Caballeros living in a run-down cabana filled with magnificent artifacts that would make any collector green like the dollar bills they count, to obtaining a good-paying job, a magnificent house, a loving girlfriend and a family that he wouldn't trade for the entire world.

If someone were to tell him on his birthday, after he had lost his job, girlfriend and house, that he would end up a lucky man within the span of a few months, he would have thought they were putting salt in his wounds.

But now? As he was sitting at his office (even after all this time, he could hardly believe he even had an office), working through some important documents for an upcoming event in regards to a book signing, he felt like life couldn't be any better.

"Donald!"

Donald looked up to see a familiar site. Daisy, his long-time girlfriend, rushing into the office with a pile of envelopes in hand.

"Thank goodness I found you!" she said. "Look what you got in the mail!"

"What is it this time?" Donald muttered, moving a stack of papers to the side. "Another letter from Uncle Scrooge asking me to sell some priceless artifact to him?"

"No, something even _more_ mysterious," Daisy answered, handing Donald a letter from the top of the pile. "This came from someone calling themselves Mono in Peru."

At that, Donald immediately snatched the letter and opened its contents with a letter opener. Mono, the monkey who helped guard the gyrosphere underneath the Nazca lines...Donald hadn't seen or heard from Mono or his friends in a long time, not even when Xandra summoned their allies to fight off against Lord Felldrake's arsenal of evil.

This had to be serious.

Pulling the letter out, Donald read through the letter once...twice...three times…

And three seconds later, he raced down the hallway, quacking like a madman with Daisy close behind him.

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In the gaming room, Xandra narrowed her eyes as she looked at the cards in her hand. She then looked up to see Jose grinning at her from across the table, a smug smile on his face that would be have been completed if he was puffing on a cigar or the like.

It was down to the last card. She only had one chance to finish this off.

Sitting at the sidelines were Daisy's nieces (April in yellow, May in orange and June in purple), Ari, the groundskeeper, Humphrey, the bear rug containing the Spark of Life in his stomach, and Panchito Gonzales, who was keeping time.

"This isn't over!" Xandra declared, slamming a card onto the table. "I set one card face-down and end my turn!"

 _Just try and attack me._ Xandra thought with a smirk hidden behind her cards. _My Mirror Force will make short work of your Harpies. And then, my Amazons will grant me victory!_

José chuckled as he fanned out his hand of cards. He looked at Panchito, who was keeping score. Xandra had 2000 lifepoints left, while he was at a mere 1500.

Then he looked to the table. He had a Harpie Lady 1, a Cyber Harpie and a Harpie Queen on the field compared to Xandra's Amazoness Paladin, Fighter, and Queen along with her face-down card.

Victory was his.

"I draw!" he announced, drawing a card. He smirked. "And now, I play my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card!"

"What! No!" Xandra exclaimed, having no choice but to send her face-down Mirror Force to the graveyard.

"And now, the finale!" José dramatically announced. "I play the Spell Card Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation!"

The female triplets "oohed" at the Spell Card. Ari tossed popcorn into his mouth while Humphrey licked honey off his paw.

"This Spell Card lets me destroy as many monsters that you control equal to the number of Harpie Ladies that I control," Jose explained. "And then, you lose lifepoints equal to the highest original attack of your monsters."

"B...but my Queen has 2400 attack points," Xandra gasped, staring at the scoreboard. "That means…"

"Game, set, and match," said Jose, while Panchito wiped off all but one '0' underneath Xandra's name. He then began to move a pile of snacks over to his side.

"No way!" Xandra scowled, slamming her hands onto the table. "Best of five! Winner take all!"

"Sorry, but that's gonna have to wait!"

Everyone turned to see Donald enter the room, panting for breath as he collapsed onto the floor. Daisy arrived seconds later.

"What's wrong, Donald?" asked Panchito, helping the duck stand up. "Has Lord Felldrake returned?"

"I don't think so," said Xandra, unstrapping the Golden Atlas off her back. "We haven't heard anything from him, or Baron von Sheldgoose, in months."

"It involves something about Nazca lines and a gyroscope," Daisy explained as Donald sat in a comfy armchair. She took the letter out of Donald's hand as everyone else approached them. "Here, it says…

" _To the Three Caballeros,_

" _Thank you for your help guarding the Nazca gyroscope all those months ago. Handsy and I have just returned from our trip around the world, and we have heard about how you managed to stop Lord Felldrake for good!_

" _Unfortunately, bad news has struck. Clementine awoken to tell us that a strange dark force had been detected within the gyroscope! And worse, it seems as if the darkness has a similar magic to that of the Nazca land itself!_

" _We ask you, brave caballeros, to uncover the source of this evil before it upsets the balance and cause the Earth to be destroyed! Handsy and I have given you some clues to get you started while we try and keep the gyroscope stable._

" _You are our only hope."_

Daisy handed a collection of photographs to Xandra (the duck still had to get used to the fact that this was the Goddess of Adventure in front of her) who looked through them one by one.

"These are all based on the Nazca lines, but these can't be right," said Xandra. "They're so...so dark!"

"Let's have a look," said April, taking the photos from Xandra. "Hmm...what do you think, girls?"

"Looks like some crummy CGI," May noted, searching on something through her cellphone.

"There's seven of them," said June. "A giant, a monkey, two birds, a lizard, a whale and…"

"A spider!" Panchito shouted.

"Yeah, that's right!" said June. "How did you know?"

"I didn't!" Panchito answered, pointing outside. "Look!"

Everyone rushed toward the window and gasped. Black storm clouds appeared in the sky and thin purple lines stretched out like a spider web. A sigil of a purple spider could be seen within these clouds. People outside began to scream and race towards their homes as a bolt of lightning struck the middle of the street.

"Didn't the news say it would be sunny the entire week?" asked Daisy.

"This is no ordinary storm, that's for sure," said Jose, pulling out his trademark black umbrella. "Hold on, I think someone is coming out!"

When the lightning faded, a tall black cloaked figure stood. The cloak was lined with red like blood coursing down one's veins, and they wore a white mask with red lines to obscure their face. The figure raised their arm...straight at the window!

"Hit the deck!" Xandra cried, preparing a golden arrow of light.

A black stream of shadows swirled around the figure before it struck the window. Xandra fired an arrow that pierced through it...but only temporarily, as the shadows repaired itself and went straight after Daisy, wrapping around her waist like a python.

"Donald!" she cried, stretching her hand out.

"Daisy!" Donald replied, grabbing onto her hand. "Hold on...I'll save you!"

Following Donald's example, everyone held onto him and pulled while Xandra fired more and more arrows. However, the shadows were smarter and split themselves apart like cells and latched onto Panchito, Jose, and the triplets, flinging them towards the walls, and knocking down the poker table and dartboard.

Ari and Humphrey were back to back, swiping at the shadows with all their might, but to no avail. Instead, the shadows formed large hands that slammed the two onto the floor.

"Ugh, these things are like ants!" Daisy exclaimed, trying to flick a shadow off her. No, it didn't look like a shadow...more like some sort of bug.

"What do they want with us?" asked Jose, swiping at the "shadows" with his umbrella.

"Maybe it's not us they're after!" said April, sitting behind the upturned poker table. "This might be a distraction for…"

She reached out for her cellphone and pulled out an app. With a few button swipes she found what she was looking for.

"The cabana!" she gasped. "They must be searching for something there!"

"Girls, get going!" said Xandra, firing more and more arrows. "Take Ari and Humphrey with you! And get the amulets of the Three Caballeros while you're there!"

"Roger!" The triplets replied before racing out of the mansion, Ari and Humphrey behind them. Meanwhile, Daisy's grip on Donald was weakening, and she was slowly slipping out of his hand.

"Hold on!" Donald exclaimed, struggling to pull Daisy by his side. He was not going to lose her after this entire adventure he had gone through just to prove to her that he loved her! And especially not after they kissed before the end of the world!

The masked figure frowned and thrust both arms into the air. More of those strange shadow bugs zipped toward them, forming dark vines. Panchito leapt over one and spun his lasso over his head before hurling it towards Daisy. She grabbed onto it and struggled as best as she could to hold on.

"Almost...got it…" Panchito grunted. "Almost…"

But an attack from behind knocked the rooster off of his feet and Daisy was thrown out the window.

"DAISY!" Donald screamed, watching Daisy being thrown towards the cloaked figure…

Only to be saved by a blur of light grabbing her at the last second. Everyone looked in confusion as Daisy was gently set down on the front yard of the manor.

"Are you all right?" asked a voice.

"Yeah, I think I will be," said Daisy, looking up. "And...who are you?"

The figure smirked as they stood up. From their attire, they certainly weren't from around here. They wore a long silver coat that flared out with black belts wrapped around the elbows. They wore a helmet shaped like a white dragon with a long mane of red hair that fell towards their waist. Their hands were covered by long black gloves and strapped to their right arm was an odd device that was shaped like a dragon's head, also colored white.

"I am the shining warrior of the light!" The person began. "I am the one who traverses across these many world to protect those who dream of Hope and peace. Through darkness and mirrors, I seek the pure and worthy to join me! I am…"

At this, he stretched his arms out as a shining aura radiated from his very being, causing everyone to step back as he declared,

"The Monarch of Illusion, Kaibaman!"

When the light faded, everyone watched as this strange dragon person gestured with his right arm and the device turned on. It extended and formed a tray in the shape of a dragon's wing as they drew five cards from a deck of Duel Monster cards. The masked figure snarled and tugged on their left sleeve, revealing a device like the one Kaibaman wore, except it was black with red lines and modeled after a spider, and also with a deck of Duel Monster cards.

"Stay out of our way!" The white masked figure stated. "You don't know who you're dealing with!"

Kaibaman grinned, baring his teeth.

"I deal with guys like you on a daily basis at home," he boasted. "Now, if you want to do this the hard way, at least state your name for our audience."

"...Tadashi," the figure spoke after a moment of silence. "Tadashi Hamada."

"Interesting…" Kaibaman chuckled. "And that Duel Disk...I wonder how you would fare in combat with me?"

"I have no time for this!" Tadashi snapped. "Hiro, where..."

Tadashi stopped when he saw a dagger made of light flying towards him. Thankfully, it was caught by a shadow vine just an inch away from his face. The dagger faded as Kaibaman wagged a finger at his opponent.

"Now, now," said this Monarch of Illusion. "You'll be seeing him after you and I have a little talk. I don't know why you want to darken this world, but I'll make sure to see you out the door after I have my way with you."

Tadashi clicked his teeth as he stared at the slithering shadow vines around the broken window. Then, with a nod of his head, they receded, flowed back to him in reverse before they became vacuumed into his cloak.

"If you are an obstacle to our plan, then so be it." Tadashi drew five cards from his deck as the device from his arm activated. "I won't let anyone hurt me again...not after last time."

Meanwhile, Daisy scrambled into Donald's arms as they, Panchito, Jose and Xandra looked in awe.

"Are they going to duel?" asked Xandra, staring at the scattered cards on the floor.

"It seems that way," said José. "Although, I don't think they're dueling for fun…"

Donald stayed still as he held Daisy closer. He hadn't gotten so interested in to Duel Monsters like everyone else did, but he did learn about their origins...how priests from Ancient Egypt summoned them in displays of power and skill, before the priests' ambition for power nearly caused these monsters to consume the world.

Was this like the legends he had read? And if they were, would he be able to stop it?

For now, all he could do was watch and see how this would all unfold.

"Let's duel!" The competitors shouted.

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 _ **Next time: What is this threat to the Nazca gyroscope? Who are these two duelists and what are their motives? And what is to come for the Three Caballeros?**_

 _ **Find out in the first sign of this adventure, "Master of Illusion", coming soon.**_


	2. Master of Illusion

_Note: Two of these characters ("Sen" and "Damballa") are original characters. The former is based on a character from an old Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh! GX crossover with an old friend of mine while the latter has appeared in my Kamen Rider fanfics._

* * *

 _ **After what I experienced with Donald, José and Panchito, I thought I could say I was a veteran when it came to fighting against threats.**_

 _ **But then these two strangers came along and changed everything.**_

 _ **One was filled with anger and despair, unleashing darkness against anyone who he thought was mocking him. It seemed like he was someone whose life was tragically cut short.**_

 _ **And the other figure?**_

 _ **He was loud, brash, proud and, most of all, our knight in shining armor against this upcoming threat. He seemed to have experience with fighting dark forces but aside from that, he was very…. different.**_

 _ **The only thing in common about these two? They both hid their faces behind a mask.**_

 _ **And what was beneath them? Well to this day I regret learning about that...**_

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 **1st Sign**

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 **Master of Illusion**

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Even after moving into the mansion across the street, Clinton Coot's cabana was maintained at least two to three times a week (so as to not accidentally sell any evil artifacts again)). Ari and Humphrey usually took care of guarding the cabana while April, May and June worked in categorizing artifacts, installing security cameras and making some nifty traps for anyone stupid enough to set foot in their old home.

The five raced across the street, with Tadashi too focused on attacking the Three Caballeros in the manor, and kicked the door open. Ari, armed with a drill, looked around while Humphrey sniffed the air and growled.

"That's odd," said April, looking at her phone. "I could have sworn I saw someone try to enter here."

"You sure it's not a glitch?" asked June, searching underneath the sofa.

"Honest!" April answered. "I just got the upgrade two days ago!"

"So we have a masked figure and his vanishing assistant," said May, looking at the clean and spotless cabana. "What's next?"

Just as she said this, a shadow rose from above them. The three girls blinked and turned around, grabbing anything they could find to defend themselves (April picked up a mop, May found a heavy book, and June grabbed a chair).

Then, they sighed in relief when they found out that it was just Humphrey, claws raised above his head as Ari pressed the button on the power drill, a soft whirr filling the air.

"Good Humphrey," said June, lowering her arms. "Now, all we need is to…"

She never got to finish that sentence as someone lifted Humphrey by the scruff of his neck and threw him out of the window. Ari and the triplets looked up to see a large robot in red battle armor and equally red eyes staring down at them.

"Stay away!" said April, stabbing the robot with her mop. "We're armed and dangerous!"

The robot tilted its head at girl before he picked up the mop. Then, with the smallest amount of effort…

 _SNAP!_

He broke the mop in two with just a firm grip.

"Um, maybe we should introduce ourselves," June suggested, the three backing towards a bookshelf. "I'm June, the one in yellow is April and the one in orange is May. What's yours?"

The robot didn't cease its unblinking stare at the girls as Ari began poking the robot in the leg with his drill. However, the robot just performed a kick that sent Ari crashing through a window. The girls hugged themselves in fear as someone entered the cabana, their feet barely making a sound on the wooden floor.

With a trembling hand, May raised her phone into the air to take a photo of the robot and the person that appeared; someone around their height, wearing strange futuristic purple armor. Their eyes were obscured by the orange visor, but, and this was a but, May thought the person was...smiling at them.

"Who are you?" May snarled, mustering up her courage. She was just as scared as her sisters, but she would be _damned_ if she was going to show it to this creep.

The figure stared May down and tilted their head to the side. At this point, May could see the person's face. It was...what was the term, human, with messy black hair framing his face.

But that was the normal thing about him.

HIs eyes were like black holes, sucking in all light around them. And there were also the red markings on the boy's face that reminded May of the time she and the girls watched a wrestling pay-per-view and one of the fighters had blood streaming down their face after they had been hit with a chair. From how the lines were positioned underneath the boy's eyes, it was like he was crying tears of blood.

"My name…" the boy said. "Is Hiro Hamada and this…" He placed a purple gloved hand on the arm of the large red robot. "Is Baymax."

Baymax wordlessly lifted May into the air and then moved two steps forward before lowering May down so she could be with her sisters.

"And...what do you want with us?" June asked timidly.

From beneath his visor, Hiro exposed his teeth, making him resemble a wolf ready to pounce on an innocent rabbit.

"Baymax," Hiro said, pointing to the huddled girls. "Destroy."

And Baymax complied.

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 **(Kaibaman: 8000) - - - - - - - (Tadashi: 8000)**

"I was here first, so I'll make the first move," said Tadashi, drawing his card. "And I'll start by playing Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf in Attack Mode!"

Donald, José, Panchito and Xandra gasped as Tadashi played a card on that device before they heard the wvir of helicopter blades. They looked up and watched as a black and gray helicopter with the face of a wolf slowly descending near Tadashi. Numerous tethering cables hung at its sides. (1700 ATK)

"And when Tetherwolf is summoned, I can Special Summon a Mecha Phantom Beast Token onto the field. Plus, as long as I have one Mecha Phantom Beast Token, Tetherwolf cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects! Plus, all 'Mecha Phantom Beast' monsters I own have their levels increased "

Appearing next to Tetherwolf was a normal silver jetplane with a rainbow aura surrounding it. (1000 DEF). Meanwhile a large '7' was printed on Tetherwolf's body. (LV: 4 -) 7)

"And then, I play two cards face-down to end my turn. How's that for an opening move?" said Tadashi.

Kaibaman, when compared to the four-person audience behind him, looked downright bored.

" _That_ is how you start a duel?" he asked, drawing a card. "Well, if that's all that you can do, then fine. I'll start by playing the Field Spell Card, Palace of Illusion!"

A slot on his Duel Disk flipped out as the white coat wearing duelist slipped his card inside. Then, the road transformed into a magnificent garden filled with lilies radiating a blue-silver glow, and butterflies the color of ink fluttering off into the distance. Behind the strange superhero, the mansion transformed into a large castle with four spires made of white marble and roofs the color of obsidian. A fireworks display erupted in the sky above.

"Whoa…." Daisy, Donald, José, Panchito and Xandra said, too awestruck by the emergence of the castle. All of this from a simple device?

"W...what?" Tadashi gasped. "What is this? I've never heard of such a card."

Kaibaman chuckled. "This is because the cards in this deck are from a one-of-a-kind archetype that you won't find anywhere else. Now, where was I? Ah, yes…

"From my hand, I summon the first of my monsters. So come forth Illusion Oracle, and show me a bright and brilliant future with your omniscience!"

Materializing in front of Kaibaman was a woman wearing a white waist-length veil and matching dress decorate.. Her face was covered by a veil except for her eyes which shined a bright white light onto the field. Adorning her neck was a silver necklace with an eye in the center and she also has silver bracelets, anklets and a silver eye brooch perched on the center of veil. Her skin was a tan color and floating in-between her hands was a ball of fire the size of a tennis ball. (2000 DEF)

The oracle turned to Kaibaman and asked, " _What can I do for you today, my lord?"_

"Wait, did that monster just speak?" asked Daisy. She pulled out a cellphone from her purse and took a photo of the duel in progress. "I didn't know Duel Monsters could do that!"

"Her voice is like a lovebird in the rainforestl!" José remarked. "I would like to know a bit more about her though."

"I'm glad you're all curious about my monster," said Kaibaman, as if he had picked up on the conversation. "You see, my Illusion monsters have a very nifty ability. Tadashi, can you please read out the stats of my monster?"

Tadashi looked at his Duel Disk. "Your monster is a Level 4 FIRE Attribute Spellcaster with 1000 attack and 2000 defense points." he said. "And an Effect Monster too. So what?"

Kaibaman's smile stretched out. "Do you know what Illusions are?"

"They're make-believe, not real, fake, phony, absolutely useless and do you want me to throw out a thesaurus or something?!" Tadashi snapped. "What are you playing at?"

"I'm playing a game of Duel Monsters with you, Tadashi-kun," Kaibaman chuckled. "Yes, Illusions aren't real. Flights of fancy that people reach forward because they cannot accept reality. Dreams, hopes, wishes, all of them are illusions that can become true if you have the courage and determination to grasp them!"

"Cut to the chase!" Tadashi roared.

"So impatient," Kaibaman 'tsk'ed. "Didn't your mother teach you how patience is a virtue?"

"...My parents have been dead for a long time now," Tadashi answered, lowering his head.

Kaibaman paused, his voice soft. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. And what about you? How did you d-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence as Tadashi raised his arm into the air and a large shadowy vine wrapped around Kaibaman's neck. The hero was lifted into the air as Tadashi clenched his hand into a fist, tightening the vine's grip. Xandra was already preparing another golden arrow as the Three Caballeros, and Daisy, looked in horror.

"Ask me that question one more time, and I'll see to it that you be dragged off into the Sanzu River," Tadashi snarled. "Got that?"

Kaibaman just nodded his head before Tadashi recalled the vine. The hero fell to the ground with a graceful flip, landing on his feet and his arms stretched out as if he was performing for an audience (which, in a way, he was).

"Ask a simple question and people get all uppity about it," Kaibaman muttered, dusting his sleeves. "Now, where was I...oh right, my monster's effect!

"You see, my Illusion monsters have the nifty ability to change their attributes - either LIGHT or DARK - once per turn, each attribute having a unique effect to them. So what was once fire shall now be light! Go Ishizu! Shine a light upon this duel!"

Illusion Oracle raised her hands into the air, her flame glowing with a soft golden light.

"And now, with Illusion Oracle as a LIGHT monster, her effect activates," Kaibaman continued. "I can excavate the top three cards of my deck; if any of those cards are LIGHT or DARK 'Illusion' monsters, then I can Special Summon them onto the field. Isn't that fun?"

"Excavate?" asked Donald. "Like digging up?"

"Excavate means that he draws cards and then reveals them to his opponent," said Panchito, having pulled out a Dueling guide from his sombrero.

"Oh…"

Kaibaman drew his three cards and tilted his head back and forth, humming a song to himself. After fifteen seconds of this, Tadashi snarled and was about to say something before Kaibaman shouted, "EUREKA!"

"What is it this time?" Tadashi muttered.

"I just realized that those little things at the end of shoelaces are called aglets!" Kaibaman laughed, looking at how Tadashi looked so riled up from the exclamation. "But, in less important news, it seems like I got myself a new friend!"

He showed the three cards to Tadashi, who gasped at the card in the middle...another monster!

"And there she goes," Kaibaman sang, hopping and spinning around in a little dance. "There she goes again! She calls my name, pulls my train, no one else can heal my pain!"

"TAKE THE GODDAMN DUEL SERIOUSLY OR ELSE I'LL-" Tadashi shouted just before he saw Kaibaman inches away from him, his lips curled upward, and a white aura surrounding the dragon-helmed warrior.

"You'll do what?" Kaibaman whispered, his grin stretched out and his teeth a set of nails as he clasped Tadashi's hands with a manic smile. "Oooh...tell me, tell me, _tell me_! I've had many people threatening with injuring/maiming/stabbing/burning me over the years, but none of them were _successfully_ able to do it! So tell me, Tadashi-kun…" His voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned to Tadashi's ear and asked, "What are you gonna _do to me_?!"

Tadashi sputtered, trying to find the right words to say as Kaibaman chuckled and then…

He was somehow back on his side of the field, jumping and waving his arms to get Tadashi's attention.

"No, no, save it for after the duel is over!" he shouted. "I just _love_ surprises!"

Illusion Oracle just rolled her eyes as she waited for the duelist to clear his throat. Clearly this hadn't been the first time she's seen this.

"Now," said Kaibaman. "Allow me to introduce my newest Illusion monster. Come forth Serenity, my Seraphic Knight of Illusion!"

Rising in a portal next to Illusion Oracle came a dainty girl with auburn hair that fell past her shoulders, blue eyes with a visor covering them, and wore white knight's armor with gold trim. In her right hand was a white and gold buckler and in her left hand was a large white flag with a strange eye symbol that had white and black magic swirling around it. She smiled as a pair of white feathery wings sprouted from her back. (1400 ATK)

"And would you look at that?" Kaibaman chuckled. "Serenity is already a Light monster, so no need to change her at all. Of course, if I _did_ change her, I'd have to face off of that watchdog of an older brother!"

This was capped with another laugh. Tadashi did not look amused and it didn't help that Seraphic Knight of Illusion giggled.

" _It's funny because it's true!"_ she noted, causing everyone to tilt their heads before Kaibaman calmed down.

"Now, I shall unleash the Overlay Network!" he announced. "And make my Level 4 monsters into material for my newest monster!"

A large swirling portal of purple stars materialized in front of the Illusion monsters. Then, Illusion Oracle and Seraphic Knight of Illusion transformed into two beams of light that leapt into the portal. As this went on, Kaibaman clasped his hands in prayer.

" _When all is lost, a lone figure will emerge from the ashes to save the day!"_ He chanted. " _Now, come forth and bring hope to this forsaken land! Rank 4! Xyz Summon! Come forth, Hero of Illusion!"_

Emerging from the portal was a brand new figure, male this time. They had gold hair as bright as the sun and glowing white eyes. They were dressed in a warrior's outfit of a tunic, with a green coat on top of that, blue pants and a red flowing cape behind them. Their eyes scanned the field as they pulled out a sword from their scabbard all while two orbs of light circled their head. (2000 ATK)

Hero of Illusion blinked before turning to Kaibaman. " _Anything that you need, my liege?"_ He asked with a smile.

Kaibaman smirked, although if one could see the look in his eyes, they could see a bit of sadness hidden beneath that mask.

"I'll need help to gather allies into this battle, Joey," Kaibaman answered. "And now, I shall detach one of my Hero's Overlay Units in order to Special Summon another Illusion monster from my hand. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce one of my Hero's merry men in the form of Illusion Bard!"

Hero of Illusion raised his sword into the sky and sliced one of the orbs circling his head. Then, Kaibaman placed another card on his Duel Disk, watching as another figure emerged onto the field. It was a young man with snow white hair that fell to his shoulders, wearing a white tunic tied with a silver rope, a black floppy hat with silver stripes and two swan feathers sticking out of it, a black cloak that covered his left shoulder, and a pair of leather boots. They played a few notes on a silver flute in hand before opening their eyes, showing that they were also a bright white color. (1400 ATK)

"Got any inspiration for a song today, Ryou?" asked Kaibaman.

Illusion Bard hummed a bit as he stopped his music. " _No, I don't think so."_

"Ah, you'll figure it out eventually," Kaibaman said with a shrug of his shoulders.

As this went on, everyone watching this duel, from Tadashi to Xandra, all had the same thought in their heads,

"Was he actually talking to these Duel Monsters? And were those Duel Monsters talking back to him?"

If he could read minds (he couldn't), Kaibaman would've have answered, "Yes". Instead, he just sighed and said, "Now, Hero of Illusion gains 200 attack and defense points for every LIGHT and DARK monster on the field."

Hero of Illusion nodded his head as he felt power flowing through his body.. (2000/1500 -) 2400/1900)

"And next," said Kaibaman. "I change the attribute of Illusion Bard into DARK!"

Illusion Bard paused in his flute playing and bowed his head. Then, he chuckled as a dark aura materialized around him and he lifted his head, his eyes black as night. His mouth curled into a wicked grin as a large large blade emerged from one end of his flute.

"Do me a favor, Bakura," said Kaibaman. "I need a good card for whatever Tadashi-kun is planning. Any ideas?"

" _I have just the thing."_ Illusion Bard chuckled, pulling out a card from thin air. " _I think_ this _will do."_

He tossed the card to Kaibaman, who caught it and added it to his hand.

"And now, I think I'll attack that pathetic monster of yours!" said Kaibaman. "Go, Hero of Illusion! Attack!"

Hero of Illusion grinned as he rushed toward Tetherwolf, all while Tadashi smirked.

"I activate my monster's special ability!" he said. "If I offer up one Mecha Phantom Beast Token, then Tetherwolf will gain 800 attack points!"

The Mecha Phantom Beast Token vanished as Tetherwolf let out a loud howl. (LV: 7 -) 4, 1700 -) 2500 ATK)

"But that means it's stronger than Hero of Illusion!" José gasped. "Watch out, Hero of Illusion!"

Hero of Illusion swung his sword at the monster before walking back to Kaibaman's side. Then, Tetherwolf exploded, taking some of Tadashi's lifepoints with him.

 **(Kaibaman: 8000) - - - - - - - (Tadashi: 7600)**

"W...what?" asked Tadashi, looking at his Duel Disk then back to the field. "B...but Tetherwolf was stronger than…"

Kaibaman laughed, and so did both Illusion Bard and Hero of Illusion.

"What's so funny?" Tadashi snarled.

"Did you not pay attention to when I summoned Serenity onto the field?" asked Kaibaman. "You see when she's a LIGHT monster, she gives any Xyz monster that she's an Overlay Unit to an additional 500 attack points during the Damage Step. So you just wasted your token for nothing!"

" _Well, he did protect 800 of his lifepoints."_ Illusion Bard noted. " _Not like it will save him when_ I _make my turn."_

"I almost forgot about you, Bakura!" Kaibaman snickered. "Now, attack directly!"

Bakura nodded his head as he threw his dagger flute toward Tadashi, the black-cloaked man shielding himself by placing his Duel Disk in front of him.

 **(Kaibaman: 8000) - - - - - - - (Tadashi: 6200)**

"Ah, that was so much fun!" Kaibaman cackled as the strange dagger vanished from Tadashi's Duel Disk and materialized in Illusion Bard's hands. "But it looks like this turn has to end soon, so I'll place one card face-down and end my turn. Now, did I forget something or the like?"

As he said this, he turned and noticed four new white marble statues in the front yard, each of them striking images of the Illusion monsters Kaibaman summoned during his turn.

"Oh, yeah I did forget something!" he said, lightly tapping his head with the palm of his hand. "Whenever I summon an 'Illusion' monster on the field, my Palace of Illusion grants me an 'Illusion Counter' in its place. I can offer up as many as I want to unleash some very powerful effects that I'll explain when it's my turn again." He then bowed at the waist toward Tadashi; if one could see his eyes, they would've noticed how he looked up at the other masked figure. "Back to you Tadashi-kun."

"Will you stop calling me that?" Tadashi growled, drawing his card. "First off, I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor in Attack Mode!"

With a screech, a blue jet modeled after the megaraptor appeared, yellow eyes glaring at the Illusion monsters. (1900 ATK)

"And next, I activate my first face-down card, Aerial Recharge!"

Tadashi's first card flipped, revealing two Mecha Phantom Beasts (Hamstrat and Megaraptor) flying in the sky.

"As long as this card is on the field, I get a spare Mecha Phantom Beast Token. Plus, since my Mecha Phantom Beast Megaraptor is on the field, he'll grant me another Token thanks to his effect!"

Both face-up cards on Tadashi's field emitted a rainbow aura before two more Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens appeared on the field. (Level 3, 0 ATK x 2)

Meanwhile, a large '10' was printed on the side of Megaraptor. (LV: 4 -) 10)

"So what?" said Kaibaman, raising an eyebrow. "Unless you happen to have another monster on the field, you won't be doing _that_ much damage to my lifepoints."

"That's where you're wrong," Tadashi retorted. "First off, I'm offering one of my tokens to take a new Mecha Phantom Beast monster to my hand."

One token vanished, dropping the level of Megaraptor to 7. (LV: 10 -) 7)

"And then I activate my other face-down card, Back to the Front! With it, I'll bring back Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf for another round!"

Tadashi's second card flipped over, revealing Muscle Medic flinging a warrior back into the battlefield, all while Freed the Matchless General is served tea by some other (female) nurses. Then, it vanished and was replaced with Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf (1200 DEF)

"And guess what, Kaibaman?" Tadashi sneered. "I'm also capable of Xyz Summoning, and with two Level 7 monsters on the field, I'll make you quake in your boots!"

"Oh really now?" Kaibaman mocked. "Well then, show me your moves!"

Tadashi frowned as a portal emerged in front of him. Both of his Mecha Phantom Beast monsters turned into green streams of light and leapt into it.

" _Great beast of the stormy sky, come forth! Unleash your wrath and bring forth my fury upon the enemy! Xyz Summon! Rank 7! Go Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack!"_

A large roar caused the five-man audience to duck for cover as a large silver plane emerged from the portal. It had a head of a large dragon at front, and a long serpentine tail along with a smaller vehicle rested on its back. The dragon-plane growled at the two Illusion monsters with the intent on eating one, or perhaps both, of them whole. Two green orbs circled its massive body. (2600 ATK)

At this, Kaibaman slowly clapped his hands, that smile still on his face.

"So you aren't just a one-trick pony after all," he said. "Although, now that I see it, this plane's design is absolutely _shoddy_. I mean, look at its head! So puny!"

Tadashi clenched his teeth.

"I remove an Overlay Unit from my Dracossack in order to Special Summon two more Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens!" he shouted.

A green orb exploded above Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack before two more tokens rose from the ground. (0 ATK x2)

"And then, I offer up one of my tokens to destroy your Illusion Bard!"

Kaibaman raised an eyebrow. "Surely you'd want to destroy my hound of a Hero instead of my Bard. You'd certainly be able to do more damage to my lifepoints this way."

"I can't afford to let you gain more cards," said Tadashi. "Plus if I use this effect, Dracossack can't attack this turn."

"Then why not just _attack_ Illusion Bard?" said Kaibaman (and José, to which everyone else just shrugged their shoulders).

"Don't tell me how to play the game!" Tadashi snapped. "Dracossack, destroy Illusion Bard!"

One of the Mecha Phantom Beast tokens vanished before Dracossack unleashed a blast of white light that struck Illusion Bard, causing him to disintegrate. Hero of Illusion grunted as his stats dropped slightly. (2400/1900 -) 2200/1700)

"I end my turn with one more card face-down," said Tadashi, slipping a card into his Duel Disk. "And now, in order to keep Aerial Recharge on the field, I must offer up either a Mecha Phantom Beast, a token or this card. I choose a token."

One of the two Mecha Phantom Beast tokens vanished into Aerial Recharge as Kaibaman drew his card. As he did, Hero of Illusion turned to him.

" _You do realize that he's just distracting you until he finds what he needs, right?"_ He said.

Kaibaman nodded his head. "Not to worry, Joey. I have an associate on the inside that's keeping an eye on Tadashi's partners."

" _Really now? Who are they?"_

Kaibaman smirked as he fanned out his cards. "Let's just say that he's _quite_ the looker."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

April, May and June had no one to thank except Ari and Humphrey from being turned into paste by Baymax.

In the time it took Hiro to command Baymax to destroy the three, Ari had returned with a lamp post to bash Baymax's head in. Humphrey followed it up by wrestling the large robot onto the ground, giving the girls time to retreat into the treasure room of the Three Caballeros. As April and May began moving furniture into the entranceway, June was texting Daisy.

"What do these guys want?" asked April, after she and May pushed a large suit of armor to the side.

"Whatever it is, it certainly doesn't sound like they're selling cookies," May responded.

June looked at the text message on her phone. "Aunt Daisy says someone is dueling in front of the manor!"

"Is Uncle Donald _finally_ gonna learn how to play the game?" asked May.

"No," June answered. "Daisy sent a picture. Take a look!"

April and May approached their sister and took a closer look at the photo. In front of the manor (or rather palace) was Kaibaman, and standing in front of the cabana was Tadashi. In-between them were their Duel Monsters.

"Wait, are these guys actually playing Duel Monsters for _real_?"April gasped. "That's so cool!"

"I'd like a piece of that tech," May smirked, enlarging the photo to get a better inspection on the Duel Disks. "I wonder how much we'd have to pay to get those custom-made."

Suddenly, the stuff that barricaded the entranceway was thrown about, and the girls dove to the sides as Hiro entered the room, hands out in front of him as various items, like the chandelier, a few fasteners of sconces and even that suit of knight's armor floated around him.

"Magnetism!" June gasped, looking at her phone. "We're in trouble.

"No we're not," May whispered back.. "All of the treasure here is made of 100% pure gold; it can't be magnetized!"

Hiro chuckled. "But not _everything_ in this room is gold, correct?"

As he said this, the triplets gasped as they saw the weapons of the Three Caballeros float around Hiro. A scimitar, polearm and broadsword pointed towards the girls who tried to flee, only to find Baymax blocking the way.

Behind Baymax, Humphrey and Ari were doing their best to pull Baymax out of the entrance, but just a swift kick from Baymax sent them flying onto a table.

"Now," Hiro continued coolly. "You're gonna be good little girls and stay here while I look for something."

The girls gulped as Hiro scanned the room with his visor while the suit of armor began to bend and curve into a shovel. With another wave of his hand, Hiro commanded his new scoop to sort through the various gold coins and other treasures all while, the girls tried to send a text message…

Only for the weapons of the Three Caballeros to point at their necks menacingly, which caused the girls to put the phones away.

"Where is it?" Hiro snarled, gold coins and other treasures flying away with each wave of his hand. "It's not here!"

"What isn't here?" asks April timidly, pressing the Record button on the Voice Recorder app..

"The Atlas!" Hiro snapped, turning to the purple clothed triplet as Ari returned with a rapier to fight off against Baymax. The Aracuan Bird unleashed a shrill battle cry before he lunged towards the robot. Baymax just simply swatted Ari aside, the groundskeeper colliding with Humphrey once again. "It's through the Atlas that we'll find…" he paused as he pointed to the girls. "No, you won't be finding this out easily."

"W...what are you going to do us?" asked May, now fearing for her life.

Before Hiro could answer, someone tapped his shoulder.

"Light's out," said the figure, punching Hiro and sending the boy sprawling towards the ground.

April, May and June gasped as the figure revealed themselves amongst a pillar of light. They wore a helmet shaped like a white dragon with a long trail of red hair falling to their waist. Their coat shined silver, and they also wore long black gloves and matching black pants. The most curious thing about this person was the necklace worn over their heart, which looked like a Duel Monsters Card. Strapped to their left arm was a futuristic device shaped like a dragon's head, which was the same color as their helmet.

"Who are you?" asked April, eyes shining bright.

The figure smirked.

"I scour the lands in search of those who would hurt the innocent," he recited. "I traverse the realm of nightmares in order to bring about light within darkness. Through darkness and mirrors I go forth and unleash the wrath of the heavens upon those who should harm the weak and helpless! I am…"

He dropped down to one knee, arms out in the sky as he announced,

"The Savior of Domino Below...the one and only Kaibaman!"

The girls looked in awe and began taking photos of the superhero. But as June was looking through the ones she took, something crossed her mind.

"But...wait a second," she said, looking at her phone. She then brought out Daisy's text, showing Kaibaman dueling Tadashi outside. "If you're here...then who's in front of the mansion?"

Just before "Kaibaman" could utter a word, Hiro rose to his feet. But before the boy could lift a finger, "Kaibaman" snapped his fingers and a series of white ghostly chains rose from the floor, immobilizing Hiro. Hiro struggled to escape, flailing his hands in a futile attempt to break the chains, but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't get them off.

"Don't even try to escape from them, Hiro-boy," "Kaibaman" chuckled at his joke. "These aren't made of metal; they can't be magnetized."

"You,.." Hiro cursed.."You son of a…"

With another snap of the fingers, Hiro's mouth was covered in white cloth, mumbling any and all obscenities.

"There are ladies present, Hiro-boy," "Kaibaman" chided, wagging a finger. "Now, all we need to do is…"

He never got to finish that sentence as Baymax kicked April, May and June to the side and raced toward him. "Kaibaman" rolled his eyes as he rolled underneath the large robot, summoning a large white gloved hand that pushed the triplets out of the way. Then, with both arms out in the air, a large wall of white marble rose and blocked the pathway, just as Baymax began pounding on it with all his might.

"Thanks for that, Kaibaman 2!" said April, sighing in relief. "There has to be some way we can repay you!"

"You can start by telling me what your friend meant by an 'Atlas'," "Kaibaman" responded, gritting his teeth as he focused on the barrier. "Take the Atlas to a safe place and don't look back."

"...But the Atlas isn't here," said June.

"Kaibaman blinked. "It isn't?"

"Duh," said May with a roll of her eyes. "It's with Uncle Donald and his friends across the street."

"Kaibaman" turned to see small cracks forming from the barrier, along with hearing Hiro roaring in fury. He then turned to Ari and Humphrey, the two keeping their eyes on the barrier.

"You two," he told them. "Keep these two busy for as long as you can. I'll take the girls to safety."

Ari and Humphrey nodded their heads as Kaibaman wrapped his arms around the three girls. A pair of large white dragonic wings unfurled from his back as he said, "Hold on tight."

The girls did exactly that, with May pulling out her cellphone for a quick selfie, before the wings enveloped the four. It then shrank into a small pinpoint of light just as the marble wall broke and Baymax emerged, red eyes still glowing.

Hiro stepped to the side, opening the visor to spit the cloth out, as he stared Ari and Humphrey down. He then pressed a button on the side of his visor.

"Tadashi," he said, as Humphrey grabbed a table. "We're in trouble; Kaibaman is here."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"What?!" Tadashi whispered, looking across the street. "I'm dueling that maniac right now!"

" _He arrived and nearly punched my lights out!"_ Hiro exclaimed, all while the sounds of glass smashing about was heard. " _How is he dueling you...unless...he can clone himself."_

Tadashi looked at Kaibaman whistling a tune under his breath - which was as he stared at his cards. "I highly doubt that," Tadashi muttered.

Kaibaman looked up. "Is it my turn already?" he asked. "Oh, how time flies."

"Just keep looking," Tadashi commanded to Hiro. "This duel won't be much longer."

" _You're getting your ass handed to you, aren't you?"_ Hiro asked. " _I told you not to go with this deck, but_ no…. _you didn't want to listen to-"_

Tadashi cut the communication off as Kaibaman stared at one of the monsters in his hand. For a moment, he smiled and a tear fell down his cheek which he quickly wiped with the back of his hand.

"First off," he said. "I offer up two of my Illusion Counters to draw a new card."

The statues of Illusion Oracle and Seraphic Knight of Illusion disintegrated into motes of light as Kaibaman took a card into his hand.

"And next, I summon my newest monster. Come forth, Illusion Defender!"

Emerging with a proud leap was the newest monster. He was short, probably around 11 to 12 years old, with black hair that fell down to his shoulders and forest green armor with grey trim. In his hands was a large oval shield twice his size with the image of a silver eye in the center. Their amethyst eyes showed a hint of innocence and his mouth was curved into a child-like grin. (1600 ATK)

"Interesting," Tadashi mused. "By the sound of your voice, and the way you looked at that card... Kaibaman, it seems like we have plenty in common."

"How so?" asked Kaibaman, turning around to see a white marble of Illusion Defender behind him. He felt his heart break in two upon seeing the determination in the statue's eyes.

"We are masked figures who have lost someone close to us," Tadashi explained. "I see it by how you named all of your monsters...they're named after people from your past, correct?"

At this, Kaibaman had no choice but to nod his head. "That is correct."

"Then why are you fighting me?" asked Tadashi, extending a hand out. "We both know what it's like to suffer, to lose someone, I can see it. If you join me, we can bring back the people you lost."

At this Kaibaman's grip on his cards tightened; Illusion Defender sensed this and turned around.

" _Don't listen to him!"_ he exclaimed. " _He won't bring them back. He can't...bring_ us _back."_

"What does he mean by that?" asked Panchito. Everyone else just shrugged their shoulders.

"Those cards were based off of people from his past," came a voice.

Xandra, the Caballeros and Daisy turned around to see a large orb of light manifest behind them. When it faded, there stood "Kaibaman" and the triplets.

"Girls!" Daisy exclaimed, rushing toward her nieces and hugging them. "You're all right!"

"No thanks to Kaibaman here," said June.

"But wait," said Xandra, looking outside. "There's two of them?!"

"It's a long story," "Kaibaman" stated, looking out the window and seeing his copy become silent. He sighed. "Did you guys notice how he's been naming each of his monsters?"

"Yep!" said Donald, pulling out a notepad. "Ishizu, Serenity, Joey, Ryou, Bakura...strange names if you ask me."

"They were all the names of his closest...friends," "Kaibaman" explained. "They all lost their physical forms, and fragments of their souls wandered about the empty space that is the Nightmare Realm for quite some time. And he...he was the last one left after his world was destroyed."

"Destroyed?" José gasped.

"Yes, destroyed," "Kaibaman" repeated. "It took some doing, but every single monster in his deck has some of the memories of his loved ones. And Illusion Defender is the most tragic one of them all."

"Why's that?" asked Daisy.

"Kaibaman" bowed his head. "Because Illusion Defender is based off of his little brother."

Back at the duel, Kaibaman closed his eyes as Illusion Defender set his gaze back at Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack. Then, the Kaibaman that was dueling smirked.

"I honestly appreciate your offer," he began. "But I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline on such a thing. You see, I did lose a lot, just like you. But _unlike_ you, I'm not throwing hissy fits at what I've lost and instead will do what I can to help others. I'm very sure you're familiar with those goals, correct?"

Tadashi paused as a memory surfaced in his grit his teeth as he saw his past self consumed by fire before he shook his head.

"Fine then!" he shouted. "Just remember that I gave you an offer, Kaibaman!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Kaibaman replied. "And now, I activate the effect of Illusion Defender! I change his Attribute to DARK, which allows me to prevent my monsters from being the targets of your monster effects! So let's do this, Mokuba!"

Illusion Defender gasped before his eyes turned black. Then, his impish smile grew into a wicked smirk as he held his shield out, the eye emblem on it extending outwards with black lines of light.

" _I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends!"_ Illusion Defender vowed. " _Just try and stop us now."_

Tadashi chuckled.

"Oh you naive boy," he said. "Your effect protects you from monsters, but not from Spell or Trap cards, correct?"

" _Huh?"_ Illusion Defender blinked his eyes in confusion.

"I activate my face-down card, Do a Barrel Roll!" Tadashi exclaimed.

The face-down card lifted, depicting a jet evading enemy fire by spinning around in the air.

"Now all I have to do is offer all Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens I control to negate your effect and destroy you! So…"

" _Can't let you so that, Tadashi!_ " Kaibaman interrupted. After a pause, he threw his head back and laughed once again, all while clutching his sides. "I always wanted to say that phrase... and in the right context, too!"

His face-down card lifted, causing Tadashi to gasp behind his mask.

"What is that thing?!" he exclaimed.

The Trap Card depicted Illusion Oracle clasping a hand on her necklace, her eyes white as the image of a large dragon appeared above her head. Kaibaman grinned.

"My Trap Card, Illusion Prophecy!" came the answer, in-between bouts of maniacal laughter. "And with this card, you won't be doing any kinds of rolls because your little card is destroyed!"

"Gh!" Tadashi snarled as his Trap Card shattered into pixels.

"And that's not all!" Kaibaman continued. "Once I destroyed your little Barrel Roll, I can Special Summon another 'Illusion' monster from my deck, So now, I summon my newest ally, Illusion Dragon Priest!"

To the right of Illusion Defender rose a new figure, around the same height and build as Kaibaman, wearing blue robes trimmed with gold. Topping a head of chestnut hair was a tall priest hat with a golden dragon at the front, and a golden eye emblem on his chest. In his hand was a golden scepter topped with a winged eye. His blue eyes showed wisdom and clarity as he pointed his weapon toward Tadashi's Xyz Monster. (1700 ATK)

Kaibaman shed another tear. "It's...it's been a while, Seth."

Illusion Dragon Priest turned and smiled. " _Indeed. I take it you're still the same old boy I used to share a body with?"_

Kaibaman shook his head. "Not anymore; in fact, I say I'm the one whose sharing a body with someone these days."

" _At least tell me he wasn't_ that _incompetent as magic as you were."_

Kaibaman turned around, past the new statue of the Illusion Dragon Priest and toward the window where his double watched. The two shared a smile. "No; he'll definitely surpass me as far as I'm concerned."

" _Ah. Well, when this is over, perhaps I'd like to train him with some new techniques. I take it he accepted your...form...well?"_

"Oh he had a bit of a hissy fit about it, but it's all good now. We're currently in the middle of a bet as to how many tokens Tadashi-kun is gonna summon in this duel. Care to put your two cents into this?"

Illusion Dragon Priest tilted his head before he lifted his staff into the air. He chanted something before something materialized into the sky, two coins.

At this, Illusion Defender and Hero of Illusion shared a laugh. Back at the mansion, "Kaibaman" chuckled.

"If you haven't noticed, I am rolling my eyes at this little sideshow," Tadashi noted. "Now can we get back to the duel?"

"Fine, fine," said Kaibaman. "Now, I'll activate the effect of Illusion Dragon Priest to change his attribute to LIGHT! And once per turn, he can increase the levels of all Illusion monsters I control by 2!"

Illusion Dragon Priest raised his scepter into the air as four stars hovered above him and Illusion Defender, spinning round and round like halos. Then, two more stars appeared in puffs of light, raising their levels to 6.

"And guess what?" said Kaibaman. "I have a Rank 6 Xyz Monster that wants to say 'Hi!', Tadashi-kun!"

"Will you stop calling me that?!" Tadashi roared. "How many times have you said that in this duel?"

"Six times!" Daisy answered, showing six fingers. When everyone glanced at her she said, "Oh, that was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?"

"Now, back to the duel," said Kaibaman. "I unleash the Overlay Network once more! Let's go!"

Illusion Defender and Illusion Dragon Priest leapt into the swirling black vortex before lightning struck its center.

" _Winner of countless battles! Bring your skills once more into the battlefield! Rank 6! Xyz Summon! Champion of Illusion!"_

Emerging from the portal is a new monster, around the same height as Illusion Defender, dressed in a blue tunic, cream pants and red cape with the same eye emblem. He wielded a scepter made of oak and topped with a diamond. His most defining trait, however, was his hair. It stood up, making him resemble a starfish, colored red and black with yellow bangs framing his youthful face. His amethyst eyes showed innocence but also power within them while two yellow orbs circled him like planets. (2400 ATK)

" _Yo, Yug'!"_ Hero of Illusion cheered, hugging his fellow Xyz monster. " _Good to see ya back!"_

" _It's good to see you too, Joey!"_ Champion of Illusion replied, eyes glowing white. " _Now, let's get battling!"_

Hero of Illusion nodded his head, his stats rising by another 200. (2200/1700 -) 2400/1900)

"My Champion of Illusion activates its effect!" said Kaibaman. "Now for every LIGHT and DARK monster on the field, your monsters lose 400 Attack and Defense points!"

Champion of Illusion raised his staff into the air as a rainbow-colored light washed over the field, weakening Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack. (2600/2200 -) 1800/1400)

"And since I know you need a Mecha Phantom Beast Token in order to have Aerial Recharge stay, and that Dracossack can't be destroyed if it's on the field...I think I'll have my monsters attack him! Go!"

Hero of Illusion charged into battle (2400 -) 2900 ATK) before unleashing a slash from his sword. Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack snarled, but otherwise was standing tall.

 **(Kaibaman: 8000) - - - - - - - (Tadashi: 5100)**

Champion of Illusion fired a prism-like blast of magic at Dracossack, chipping some of Tadashi's lifepoints further.

 **(Kaibaman: 8000) - - - - - - - (Tadashi: 4500)**

"Stop playing around, Tadashi!" Kaibaman mocked, . "I really don't think you're here to fight me. You're looking for something; tell me what you're looking for and I can end this duel here and now."

Tadashi paused. "...You're lying."

"Lying?" said Kaibaman with a tilt of his head. "You're the one pulling off this humongous distraction while your little brother is off trying to pilfer a precious prize in this world. If you tell me what it is, we can go search for it together."

"What?" April gasped, eyeing the Golden Atlas strapped to Xandra's back. "We can't let him do that!"

"Why not?" asked Kaibaman, following April's gaze.

"That Atlas is what keeps Xandra here!" says June. "If they take a hold of it, Xandra would have no choice but to follow their commands! Not to mention that it takes one to any and all 'Zoom Points' across the globe."

Tadashi smirked. "Thanks for the hint, girls!"

"HUH?!" said the triplets, looking at Tadashi.

Tadashi grinned. "Forgot to mention; thanks to the one who brought me back to life, my senses have been heightened. So I could hear your little conversation all the way out here. And now that we know what we need to get, and who has it…"

"Oh no you don't!" said Kaibaman. "We still have a duel in process; you leave this field and it's an automatic win for me. And I don't think your Earthbound Immortal is gonna be impressed with their host surrendering, right?"

Tadashi's eyes widened. "You...you know about Uru?"

"And Ccapac Apu and Cusillu and Ccarayhua and all the others!" Kaibaman replied. "Like I said, I deal with threats like you on a regular basis. Now, tell me, Tadashi-kun...why do you need the Atlas that badly?"

"That is absolutely none of your damn business!" Tadashi snarled. "And I'm not gonna back down from what you give me, that's for sure. End your turn!"

Kaibaman smirked. "So you still have a sense of honor; I like that. And I hope you like my next card, Overlay Capture!"

Tadashi's eyes widened as the Spell Card appeared. Then, Champion of Illusion raised his staff into the air.

"Since we both have Xyz Monsters, I'm able to remove all the Overlay Units off of Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack then attach this Spell Card to Hero of Illusion," Kaibaman explained. "So now you won't be making anymore tokens, will you?"

The green orb circling Dracossack shattered while a silver orb circled around Kaibaman's Champion of Illusion.

"And I'll end the turn with one card face-down," said Kaibaman, slipping a card into his Duel Disk. "If you're going down swinging, the least you can do is make your final turn magnificent, Tadashi-kun. Come on, don't keep me waiting."

Tadashi snarled as he vanished his Mecha Phantom Beast Token.

"And that's a count of eight," said Daisy. Once again, everyone stared at her. "What? Someone has to keep count!"

"Yeah, someone has to count how long Ari and Humphrey can keep Hiro-boy busy," said May, showing off the security feed on her phone. Ari collapsed on the floor while Humphrey was still going toe-to-toe with Baymax. "Wait...where's…"

"Right here."

Everyone turned to find Hiro burst through the wall, flying towards Xandra. Panchito threw his lasso over Hiro, tightening it around the boy's waist before he was sent flying in the air.

"I know all about flying donkeys, but this is crazy!" said José, grabbing onto Panchito's free hand. "Hold on, we got you!"

Donald and Xandra grabbed onto José and the four Caballeros began to pull as Hiro grunted, eyes glowing madly. Meanwhile, April, May and June watched as Baymax kicked Humphrey in the stomach, causing the animated bear rug to finally collapse with a growl.

"That's bad," May commented as Hiro raised his hands into the air. Soon, the chandelier swinging above their heads began to frantically swing back and forth before it was yanked out. Hiro grabbed onto the chain and swung it around his head like a mace.

"Hit the deck!" said Daisy, tackling her nieces to the ground as "Kaibaman" raised a hand to the air. Then, a concentrated beam of light manifested, blinding Hiro. The boy's aim with the chandelier knocked Xandra into the wall and had the Three Caballeros flying around alongside Hiro, all while trying to avoid the chandelier swinging above their heads.

"Get off of me!" Hiro shouted, pulling on the lasso around his waist.

"Not until you tell us why you need Xandra's Atlas so badly!" José replied.

"NEVER!" Hiro roared.

"It's your funeral then, boy," said "Kaibaman", snapping his fingers once again.

Hiro looked up as a large white one-ton weight appeared above him. The Three Caballeros let go of the lasso just as the weight landed on top of Hiro, crushing the boy.

"Oh my gosh!" Daisy exclaimed. "You...you killed him!"

"Hiro and his brother were dead to begin with," "Kaibaman" replied, staring back at the duel. "But that is gonna knock him out for quite some time."

As this was going on, Kaibaman had turned and laughed until he collapsed onto the road, rolling on his sides at the cartoonish way Hiro was dealt with.

"I...I _knew_ you had a funny bone all this time, other self!" he cackled, beating the asphalt with a fist. "Oh, I could watch that a hundred times!"

"That was my brother, you jerk!" Tadashi screamed, a mass of shadowy vines rising from the ground. "How dare you!"

"But like other me said, you two are dead." Kaibaman said, performing a kick-up without feeling worse for the wear. "He'll be fine after a while."

Tadashi roared as a black aura manifested and a gale of dark wind shattered the windows to the castle. The Caballeros, Xandra, Daisy and the triplets stepped back, but the Illusion monsters didn't react to this temper tantrum.

"When this duel is over, I'm gonna kill you ALL KINDS OF DEAD!" Tadashi screamed.

"I can't wait to see you try," Kaibaman chuckled. "And nice _The Spirit_ reference by the way, Tadashi-kun! Now make your move!"

"I will!" said Tadashi, drawing his card. "First off, Aerial Recharge gives me another Mecha Phantom Beast Token."

Another Mecha Phantom Beast Token rose onto the field. (0 ATK)

"And next, I summon Mecha Phantom Beast Harrliard!"

With a roar, a golden plane descended from the sky, its face similar to that of a leopard. (LV: 4 -) 7, 1800/800 -) 1000/0)

"Now I offer my Mecha Phantom Beast Token so I can Special Summon Mecha Phantom Beast Coltswing from my hand. And when Coltswing is summoned this way, I gain two more tokens!"

The lone Mecha Phantom Beast Token vanished as a white aircraft designed after pony with tiltwing propellers descended onto the field. (LV: 4 -) 10, 1600/1500 -) 800/700). Following it were two more tokens. (0 ATK x 2)

"What's next?" asked Kaibaman. "You gonna use Dracossack's ability to destroy one of my monsters or something?"

Tadashi shook his head. "I'm activating the ability of Coltswing to destroy and banish your Champion of Illusion."

Champion of Illusion narrowed his eyes as Hero of Illusion stepped forward, sword ready to protect his friend. Meanwhile both of the tokens vanished into grains of light.

"Oh, sad, sad, sad…" said Kaibaman. "I honestly don't know why you're being so _boring_ with this deck...it's as if you just randomly picked it up one day and decided to give it a test run! Am I right?"

"..."

Kaibaman smirked. "Called it. And even then, I'm not gonna let you do it! I activate my face-down card, Illusion of Dark Temptation!"

The face-down card lifted, revealing Champion of Illusion slowly reaching toward a staff with a black crystal, his eyes slowly turning black.

"This card acts like the Illusion monster's version of 'Call of the Haunted'," Kaibaman explained. "By discarding an Illusion monster from my hand, I can Special Summon one back onto the field. And as long as this card is on the field, that monster's attribute is considered DARK!"

"But…" Tadashi stammered. "That means…"

"Bingo bongo!" said Kaibaman. "Mokuba, Illusion Defender, return and defend me from this dreaded monster!"

The Trap Card glowed as Illusion Defender leapt onto the field, eyes glowing black. (1600 ATK)

"And I think…" said Kaibaman, watching all of Tadashi's monsters grow 400 points weaker. "That was the end of your turn, right?"

Tadashi wordlessly slipped a face-down card into his Duel Disk then gestured to his Aerial Recharge Trap Card. The Continuous Trap Card shattered into pixels as Kaibaman nodded his head.

"Ah well," he said, drawing a card. "This was fun, but next time, give me a bit of a challenge, why don't you? First, I detach an Overlay Unit from Champion of Illusion."

Champion of Illusion raised his staff into the air, a bolt of lightning striking one of the yellow orbs.

"Normally, I'll use this effect to make me destroy one of your monsters at the beginning of the Damage Step," Kaibaman began. "But I have something...better in mind."

"Like what?" asked Tadashi.

"If I offer four 'Illusion Counters' from my Palace of Illusion, I'm allowed to return one 'Illusion' monster from my graveyard back to my deck. And, wouldn't you know it, I'm having Seth here come back for another round!"

Four of the statues crumbled into rubble. The card for Illusion Dragon Priest ejected from the graveyard before Kaibaman placed it into his deck. One shuffling later, Kaibaman chuckled.

"And now, let me introduce _another_ of Champion of Illusion's effects. If I return an 'Illusion' monster to my hand, I'm allowed to swap in an 'Illusion' monster in my deck to take its place."

"And by doing so, he can summon Illusion Dragon Priest once more!" said Xandra. "But wait…"

"What do you mean, 'wait'?" asked Donald, rubbing his head.

"Illusion Dragon Priest's effect as a LIGHT Attribute monster makes it so that it increases the levels of all Illusion monsters on the field by 2. But Xyz Monsters don't have levels, they have ranks!"

"Correct!" said Kaibaman, playing Illusion Dragon Priest's card. "But I don't have plans on using his LIGHT based abilities; I'm going for something _darker_ time around!"

Illusion Dragon Priest rose onto the field, eyes shining black as he raised his staff into the air. (1700 ATK) Then, Champion of Illusion was bathed in a golden light, an eye symbol appearing on his forehead.

"When Illusion Dragon Priest is a DARK monster, I can offer an Xyz Monster I control and Special Summon another Xyz Monster two ranks higher than the one I offered. Plus any Overlay Units that were on the monster I offered now becomes material for my newest summon!

"So Champion of Illusion, step down and let us bring forth the mighty ruler of the palace!"

Champion of Illusion nodded his head as he raised his staff in the air. Then, a pillar of light shined around him all while Kaibaman chanted,

" _Grand ruler of the Illusion Kingdom, grant us your strength in this unholy land! Combine the powers of Light and Darkness once more! Xyz Summon! Rank 8! Monarch of Illusion!"_

As if by magic, Champion of Illusion grew taller, his clothes befitting a king, and a golden circlet topping his spiky hair. When the light faded, everyone looked in awe at the new monster.

While he had many similarities to Champion of Illusion, there were just as many differences. First, there were three additional lightning bolt bangs that rose up. Second, his eyes were the color of rubies. Third, his weapon was a fancier scepter that had two orbs, one black and one white, floating around it. And fourth, his outfit had gold trim and a purple cape instead of the red one that Champion of Illusion wore. (3000 ATK)

Monarch of Illusion turned to Kaibaman and smirked. " _About time."_

"Had to save the best for last, Atem," Kaibaman laughed. "Good to see you, too."

"...Even with that monster, I still have enough lifepoints to last another turn!" said Tadashi, looking at the stats of the new monster.

Kaibaman lowered his head. "...There is no next turn for you," he stated. "When Monarch of Illusion is summoned, he destroys all non-'Illusion' cards on the field!"

"What?!" Tadashi gasped.

"You heard me!" Kaibaman roared. "Atem, bring about the Final Illusion Burst and clear the way!"

Atem nodded his head as he raised a hand into the air, white and black energy appearing in the palm of his hand before they flew toward Tadashi. Tadashi howled in pain as the light enveloped the field, causing him - and the audience in the Palace of Illusion - to turn away. The Mecha Phantom Beasts roared in agony as they exploded into shrapnel.

Seconds later, the light faded away, leaving Tadashi's field completely empty. Monarch of Illusion nodded his head as he lowered his hand.

"And it looks like we're done," said Kaibaman. "Hero of Illusion and Monarch of Illusion, attack directly!"

Both monsters nodded their heads as Hero of Illusion raised his sword into the air. (2200/1700 -) 2400/1900 -) 2900/1900) Monarch of Illusion chanted a spell on the blade as it glowed with a holy light before Hero of Illusion perform two swipes with his sword, crescents of white and black magic striking Tadashi before he had a chance to utter a single word, shattering his mask and causing him to collapse onto the ground in pain.

 **(Kaibaman: 8000) - - - - - - - (Tadashi: 0)**

"And that is that," said Kaibaman, taking a bow. As he did, the Palace of Illusion faded away, alongside his two monsters. "Well, Tadashi...at least grant me the right to see the look on your face."

Tadashi panted, his mask broken in half around his feet, a hand covering his face. From what could be seen, he couldn't be older than eighteen at the very least, with a square jaw, black eyes and burn marks around the right side of his face. Like Hiro, he also had red markings on his face like blood.

"What the?" asked April, noticing how the illusionary one-ton weight had vanished. She slowly approached Hiro and took note of the red lines on his face. "How...how are they…"

Hiro's eyes snapped open as he grabbed onto April, hands squeezing onto the girl's neck as she gasped for air.

"APRIL!" Her sisters shouted as they charged Hiro. Hiro released one hand from April and stared at the chandelier near his feet. The chandelier moved in the air like a snake before it wrapped itself around the two girls. Xandra slowly stood up and summoned her bow, preparing another golden arrow before...

"Xandra," said Hiro, raising April into the air. "Hand over the Atlas, or I can't guarantee her safety."

Xandra snarled, all while April felt the room start to spin. Daisy looked in concern, and so did the Three Caballeros. "Kaibaman", in the meantime, just folded his arms across his chest.

This got Hiro's attention. "What? You're not gonna come in and save the day? You're just going to let me take this girl hostage?"

"Kaibaman" smirked as he revealed a card in his left hand. "I'm just waiting for you to put your guard down so I can threaten you with this!"

He raised his hand into the air as everyone looked at the card in his hand...a brilliant white dragon with shining blue eyes that had 3000 attack points and 2500 defense points.

"Blue Eyes White Dragon?!" Hiro gasped.

"Correct, Hiro!" "Kaibaman" said. "So unhand the girl and take you and your brother out of this world or I'll summon him and his two brothers for a little fun. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

"..." Hiro snarled as he dropped April to the floor.

"Good boy," said "Kaibaman", making the card vanish with a flick of his hand. He then turned to see his doppleganger approaching the collapsed Tadashi. "Now, all we need to do is to immobilize Tadashi-kun and…"

He didn't get to finish that sentence.

"Kaibaman" opened his mouth into a gasp as a shadowy tendril pierced straight through his chest. Everyone gasped as they turned to Hiro, who was now surrounded by eight shadowy tendrils like tails.

"What?" said Hiro. "Did you think my brother was the only one who could pull off that trick? Oh, Kaibaman...for all your talk and skills, you honestly couldn't see deceit coming a mile away."

"Kaibaman" gasped for breath, his body limp as Hiro retracted the shadowy tendril. Xandra fired an arrow, but Hiro raised a han. The tendril to his left caught the arrow and broke it in half.

"Don't even try it," Hiro snarled. "After I have my way with this hero, I'll…" He paused. "Wait a second…"

"What is it this time?" May spat out, glaring daggers at the boy.

Hiro approached the dead superhero with a large hole in his chest. "He called me 'Hiro', not 'Hiro-boy'. Why would he…"

A black gloved hand grabbed onto his throat and raised him into the air. Then, as if rising from the grave, "Kaibaman" rose into the air with the help of two white dragon wings that unfurled from his back all while Hiro looked in alarm.

"Gotcha!" "Kaibaman" smirked.

Then, he spun around and hurled Hiro out of the window and straight into his older brother's arms. The Kaibaman that was on the asphalt raised both hands into the air as an orb of crackling energy emerged.

"Shocking, isn't it?" he asked.

He then fired the blast at both brothers, the orb spreading out into an electrical net that covered the brothers. Tadashi and Hiro cried out in pain as the voltage of the net began shocking them.

"And now," said Kaibaman, looking around. "I think there was someone else I had to worry about…"

A loud crash and a bear thrown out of the cabana across from him gave him the answer. Baymax stepped out of the hole, eyes glowing red as he scanned the area.

"Oh yeah," Kaibaman said. "You."

Hiro grunted as he saw the robot in red armor stare at them. "Baymax, activate the portal out of here! We're leaving."

"What?!" Tadashi exclaimed. "We can't leave without-"

"Trust me," said Hiro, staring at the Kaibaman back at the manor, waving at them despite the large hole in their chest. "We've done what we needed to do."

"...Very well." Tadashi conceded. He then turned to the Kaibaman staring at the locket wrapped around his neck. Something clicked in his mind. "Wait...what was…"

He never got to finish his sentence as a portal of darkness materialized underneath his feet, sucking him and Hiro in with a loud _SLURP_. Baymax just turned to Kaibaman as a portal also materialized beneath his feet and sucked the chubby robot into a void. Meanwhile, Humphrey just raised a paw into the air before letting it drop to the ground with a groan.

"Huh." Kaibaman said, looking around. "That was better than expected."

"Get back inside before someone sees you!" "Kaibaman" shouted, waving his arms up and down. "You look like some third-rate superhero out there!"

Kaibaman rolled his eyes as he approached the manor, going through the broken window with a simple jump. He ignored the looks from the ducks, the parrot, the rooster and the goddess as he added, "This is coming from someone who kept derailing the duel with that little game of yours. By the way, how many tokens did Tadashi summon?"

"Ooh, ooh! He summoned eight in total!" Daisy answered. This caused everyone to stare at her again. "What? Someone had to point that out!"

"Then it looks like I won our bet," Kaibaman smirked. "You'll have to take my place at next week's conference."

"Darn it," "Kaibaman" pouted. "And here I thought I could just waltz right out and do some investigations at Domino Below."

"Not with _that_ ," Kaibaman noted, pointing to the large hole in his counterpart's chest. "When we get back, you should call that 'Repairman' of yours to have a look-see."

"Oh! I'll do you one better; I'll bring my older brothers for a day of fun and delight! They didn't get to enjoy themselves last time because of-"

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Donald shouted at the two. "How is one of you still alive with a hole in the chest? And how is the other even here in the first place?"

"I have to agree with Donald," said Panchito. "Something's off about you two."

Both of the heroes tilted their heads. "How's that?" They asked simultaneously,

"Well for one," said June, pointing to the Kaibaman with the card locket. " _You_ kept calling Hiro 'Hiro-boy' but just before _you_ , er, him -" she pointed to the Kaibaman with the large hole where his heart would be. "Got attacked, you said nothing at all."

"That's right!" said Xandra. "And then you called Tadashi 'Tadashi-kun', but that's usually said by the one that was dueling."

"And look!" said April, pointing to their Duel Disks. "Your Duel Disks are on the opposite arms! How is that possible? Magic? Cloning? Maybe a…."

"Ugh!" May screamed, practically tugging the feathers on her head. "My head's spinning as it is! Why don't you just remove those stupid masks of yours and tell us what's going on right now!"

The Kaibaman with the hole in his chest sighed. "Fine, you asked for it little girl."

Both of the heroes placed their left hands over the left sides of their faces. Then, a soft white light filled the room as the outfits of the heroes faded away. Black gloves vanished, the helmets disappeared and soon, there were two copies of the same person. They both looked like the same age as Tadashi, with short brown hair and blue eyes, wearing the same silver coat and black pants.

"Wait...there's TWO OF YOU?!" Daisy shouted, looking at both warriors. "Who...who _are you_?!"

"I'm Seto Kaiba," said the one on the right. "And, well, the one with the hole like he's just had open heart surgery is _also_ Seto Kaiba but just call him 'Sen' for the time being."

"Um, okay then…" said Daisy, shrinking back. "This is gonna take some getting used to."

"I'll say," said José, noting something about Sen. "And uh, pardon me."

Sen raised an eyebrow, a mischievous smirk on his face. "Yes?"

"I, uh," José began, noticing Sen's very _very_ sharp teeth. "Are those teeth...nails?"

This caused everyone to look in alarm. When Sen stretched his mouth out into a tooth-filled grin, instead there were just two rows of very sharp nails that looked like they could gobble up human flesh. In fact, on closer inspection, they noticed that his skin wasn't skin at all, but rather wood.

And his left eye wasn't an eye at all, but rather a prosthetic mask that mimicked a blue-white eye and a bit of his cheek..

"Oh, oh…" Sen snickered. "Well Miss May did say remove our masks, so I decided to remove that silly little glamour spell that _usually_ masks my true form and, well…"

"Wait…" said April. "You're...a walking, talking _mannequin_?!"

At this, Sen paused and a tear fell down his right eye.

"Yes and no," he answered, looking at his hands. "I used to be quite handsome; a human with everything one could ask for. Money, fame, power, a little brother, friends...and then, everything was taken away by a dark force. I was left at the end, ready to give up on everything until...he came."

"Who came?" said Xandra. Something about how Sen stated those last two words made her feel like she was dipped into an ice cold bath.

"I did," hissed a voice.

Leaning against the wall was a man in a white suit, white pants, black tie and a white fedora topping his head of short white hair. The figure smirked, lifting their head to reveal golden eyes and markings similar to snake scales decorating his face. He hissed, sticking his forked tongue out briefly.

"Oh, you're here," said Seto, rolling his eyes. "What do you need this time, Damballa?"

"Someone needed a 'Repairman' for a nasty injury, correct?" Damballa chuckled, approaching Sen. He "tsk"ed when he noticed the large hole in the mannequin's chest, even going as far as placing his hand through it. He retracted his hand and said, "Well, not as bad as the _usual_ injuries he gets, but this could take some time."

"In the meantime," said Seto, noticing the broken window and the nearly destroyed cabana across the street. "Let's take this somewhere...safer."

"Because nothing is as 'safe' as a cabana, right?" asked May, noticing Ari already working on sweeping the front lawn..

"But why were those two going after the Atlas in the first place?" asked Xandra, reaching for it behind her back. "Does it have something to do with the Nazca Gyroscope?"

"Yes and no," Seto answered, placing his left hand over his left eye. "It's going to have something to do with something greater than that."

"...Like what?" asked June, timidly.

Seto closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "What if I told you that there are more and more worlds out there? And what if I told you that a dark force is threatening to swallow them whole?"

He opened his eyes and then turned to the Three Caballeros. "And what if I told you that you three are our only hope in saving us all?"

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 **Illusion Defender**

 **EARTH / Level 4 / Warrior / Effect / ATK 1600 / DEF 1500**

 **Effect:** Once per turn: You can activate this effect; Change this card's Attribute to LIGHT or DARK. This card gains the following effects based on its attribute.

LIGHT: Your opponent cannot target your monsters with Spell/Trap Cards or their Effects.

DARK: Your opponent cannot target your monsters with Monster Effects.

 **Note:** Based on Mokuba Kaiba.

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 **Illusion Bard**

 **WIND / Level 4 / Spellcaster / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1200**

 **Effect:** Once per turn: You can activate this effect; Change this card's Attribute to LIGHT or DARK. This card gains the following effects based on its attribute.

LIGHT: Once per turn, you can add 1 "Illusion" monster from your deck to your hand.

DARK: Once per turn, you can add 1 "Illusion" Spell/Trap Card from your deck to your hand.

 **Note:** Based on Ryou Bakura. (Wnen Dark Attribute, he's based on Dark Bakura)

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 **Illusion Oracle**

 **FIRE / Level 4 / Spellcaster / Effect / ATK 1000 / DEF 2000**

 **Effect:** Once per turn: You can activate this effect; Change this card's Attribute to LIGHT or DARK. This card gains the following effects based on its attribute.

LIGHT: Once per turn: You can excavate the top 3 cards from your deck; Special Summon 1 LIGHT or DARK "Illusion" monster from among those cards.

DARK: Once per turn (Quick Effect), if your opponent activates a card or effect: You can discard 1 "Illusion" monster from your hand; Negate the activation of that card or effect, and if you do, destroy it.

 **Note:** Based on Isis/Ishizu Ishtar.

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 **Illusion Dragon Priest**

 **FIRE / Level 4 / Spellcaster / Effect / ATK 1700 / DEF 1300**

 **Effect:** Once per turn: You can activate this effect; Change this card's Attribute to LIGHT or DARK. This card gains the following effects based on its attribute.

LIGHT: Once per turn, you can increase the Levels of all "Illusion" monsters you control by 2.

DARK: Once per turn, you target 1 "Illusion" Xyz Monster you control: Xyz Summon 1 "Illusion" Xyz Monster from your Extra Deck whose Rank is 2 Ranks higher than that target, using that target as the Xyz Material. (Xyz Materials on that monster become Xyz Materials on the summoned monster).

 **Note:** Based on Seth

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 **Hero of Illusion**

 **LIGHT / Rank 4 / Warrior / Xyz / Effect / ATK 2000 / DEF 1500 / 2 Level 4 Monsters**

Effect: Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Special Summon 1 "Illusion" Monster from your hand. This card gains 200 ATK and DEF for every LIGHT and DARK monster on the field.

 **Note:** Based on Jounochi Katsuya/Joey Wheeler

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 **Champion of Illusion**

 **LIGHT / Rank 6 / Warrior / Xyz / Effect / ATK 2400 / DEF 2000 / 2 Level 6 Monsters**

 **Effect:** Monsters your opponent controls lose 400 ATK and DEF for each LIGHT and DARK monster on the field. Once per turn, you can return 1 "Illusion" Monster to your hand; Special Summon 1 "Illusion" Monster from your deck. (Quick Effect): You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; This turn, if this card battles a monster, destroy that monster at the start of the Damage Step.

 **Note:** Based on Yugi Muto

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 **Monarch of Illusion**

 **LIGHT / Rank 8 / Warrior / Xyz / Effect / ATK 3000 / DEF 2500 / 3 Level 8 Monsters**

 **Effect:** When this card is Xyz Summoned successfully: You can activate this effect; Destroy all cards on the field except "Illusion" cards. Once per turn: You can shuffle 1 "Illusion" Card from your GY into your deck; Draw 1 card. (Quick Effect): You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; This turn, this card is unaffected by your opponent's card effects. If this card would be destroyed by battle, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card instead.

 **Note:** Based on Atem/Yami Yugi.

 _Note: The preceding cards were created by Donjusticia for the use of this story. Creative credit belongs to him._

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 **Seraphic Knight of Illusion**

 **LIGHT/ Level 4 / Warrior / Effect / ATK 1400 / DEF 1800**

 **Effect:** Once per turn: You can activate this effect; Change this card's Attribute to LIGHT or DARK. This card gains the following effects based on its attribute.

LIGHT: If this card is used for an Xyz Summon, the monster gains 500 ATK during the Battle Phase.

DARK: If this card is used for an Xyz Summon, once per turn, select one monster the opponent controls and decrease its ATK and DEF by 500.

 **Note:** Based on Shizuka Kawaii/Serenity Wheeler.

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 **Illusion Prophecy**

 **Trap / Counter**

 **Image:** Oracle of Illusion clasping her necklace, her eyes glowing white as the image of a dragon appears above her head.

 **Effect:** If your opponent activates a card or effect that would destroy a card(s) on the field: Negate the activation of that card or effect, destroy it, and if you do, Special Summon 1 Level 4 "Illusion" Monster from your deck. (That monster's Attribute is treated as both LIGHT and DARK).

 _Note: This card was created by Donjusticia for the use of this story._

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 **Illusion of Dark Temptation (Trap Card)**

 **Continuous Trap**

 **Image:** Champion of Illusion's eyes glazed over as he reaches out toward a staff topped with a black crystal.

 **Effect:** Special Summon an 'Illusion' monster from your graveyard. As long as this card is on the field, the monster's Attributed is treated as DARK. When this card leaves the field, destroy this card. When this card leaves the field, destroy the monster.

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 **Palace of Illusion (Spell Card)**

 **Field Spell**

 **Description:** Every time an Illusion monster is summoned, place one 'Illusion Counter' on this card. If this card should be destroyed, you can offer one "Illusion Counter" instead. Once per turn you can offer as many Illusion Counters on this card; and activate the following effects depending on the number of tokens offered.

Two counters: Draw one card (this can be used multiple times)

Four counters: Shuffle one 'Illusion' monster from your graveyard to your deck.

Six counters: Negate the effect of one of your opponent's cards that would target an Illusion monster.

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 _ **Next time: In order for the Three Caballeros to get ready for the path ahead, they (and Xandra) are sent to Domino City, where duels are played at high stakes. José must place his bets against the girl who calls herself "Fortune Fatale", and learns that she has a hatred for the very monsters he uses.**_

" _ **Harping About Harpies" is coming soon.**_


	3. Harping on about Harpies

_Note: This first arc (dubbed "Domino Zone") is linked to my stories in the Between series and takes place during "Nobis Vivis Manes" meaning that yes, somewhere down the line Domino City once had the Three Caballeros touring there._

 _Knowledge of the Alea Iacta Est story "Before the Storm" will also be helpful._

 _Also, one character was created by me and my fellow fanfic writing friend "Mana Goddess". The world said character talks about comes from my friend's fanfic "Dreams are for Nights"._

 _And now, back to the story._

* * *

 _ **The Three Caballeros were no strangers in saving the world…**_

 _ **But to save all of the worlds that connected to ours? To be honest, that sounded like a tall order.**_

 _ **Seto Kaiba was firm on this, though, and from how he sounded, it's like he has seen so much. I wonder...what would have happen to make this boy go through so much suffering, so much pain, so much sadness in such a short time?**_

 _ **I never got a chance to figure that out, not even when we were all invited much later at the palace...**_

 _ **But, I'm getting ahead of myself, because right now, the most important thing to worry about was when José had his first duel that didn't involve me…**_

 _ **And he found out the hard way that someone really despised his Harpie Ladies more than I did.**_

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 _ **Part 1: Domino Zone**_

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 **2nd Sign**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Harping About Harpies**

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"Son of a bit!" Tadashi cursed, punching a wall. "I can't believe that maniac played me like a goddamn electric violin!"

Hiro, wearing a black hooded jacket and matching black pants, just sighed as he saw his older brother pace back and forth in their "room", for lack of a better term. Hiro had only been "alive" for a few hours when he was first transported into what was their new home. Tadashi was calmer at that point, too exhausted in resurrecting Hiro to truly be angry as he was right now.

After Tadashi died, Hiro wished with all of his heart that Tadashi would come back and they could be a happy family again. Whoever answered his wish had a very twisted sense of humor.

Baymax was in his charging station, not wearing his custom battle armor and back to his normal marshmallow self. Hiro's heart broke a little at seeing Baymax's peaceful face; the red chip inside him was filled with fighting moves to be used in self-defense…

And, in the end, they were used to end Hiro's life.

Meanwhile, Tadashi finished his aggravated pounding on the wall, leaving a series of cracks that instantly repaired itself before he turned to Hiro.

"Are you okay?" Tadashi asked, tenderly patting his little brother on the head. "That madman didn't hurt you that badly, did he?"

Hiro shook his head. "The armor absorbed most of the weight, but that electrical web packed a paralyzing punch."

"That's something a bit of hockey with our Monkey Signer won't undo," said Tadashi. He then frowned. "But our lord is going to be upset when he finds out that we couldn't obtain the Atlas."

Hiro nodded his head at that. "Where is Yozora anyway?"

"He and his...partner...are off scouring the Nightmare Realm for more artifacts that we can use," Tadashi answered staring at his reflection in a cracked mirror. He narrowed his eyes at the burn marks around the right side of his face. "They'll be coming back soon so we can figure out our next move."

"...Maybe we don't have to wait that long."

Tadashi turned to his brother. "What do you mean by that, Hiro?"

Hiro smirked. "How about we go after that superhero who humiliated the two of us? Besides, I haven't really spent time with you since you came back."

At this, Tadashi returned the smile with one of his own. He then snapped his fingers as another mask materialized over his face with a burst of shadows. The markings on the mask were similar to the ones that tattooed his face, a physical reminder of what he must endure.

Still, if it meant that the bastard that killed him was permanently wallowing in despair in the depths of Yomi, so be it.

"Yeah," said Tadashi. "I think it's time for a day of fun. Let's see if anyone else wants to join us first."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Seriously?" April gasped. "You did _what_ to his soul?!"

Damballa chuckled as he waved a hand over the hole in Sen's chest as everyone else relaxed in the cabana. Ari was already working on repairs, Humphrey was being nursed by May and June, Daisy was nervously strumming her hands on a table, Xandra was looking through the Golden Atlas and the three Caballeros were trying to help Seto look through some of Clinton Coot's journals for anything regarding Tadashi and Hiro's unexpected visit to their world.

As all of this happened, Sen sat in an armchair as he eyed a dartboard ten feet away from him. He leaned back then…

He spat a nail that flew into the air, landing directly at the bull's eye without a care in the world.

"Yes, I did it!" he shouted, cackling as he was restrained to the armchair with numerous white chains. He hopped up and down as he continued his mad laugh, looking like he should belong in an asylum than in a cabana. Seto, in retaliation and without even looking, whacked his doppleganger across the head with a green slipper.

"Do you honestly have to do this?" he asked, shaking that green slipper in hand.

"I have to do something to sharpen my skills!" Sen exclaimed. "Get it? Sharpen? Because my nails are…"

"We get it!" said May. "Now, Mr. Damballa, you were continuing with that story?"

"Oh yes, yes," Damballa said, watching as a cloud of black magic cover his hand. "After I had made a few modifications to Sen's soul, I tasked him to enter a world where a different him was going through a bit of depression. Through Sen, Seto here was able to keep an eye on the suspicious activity in his homeworld and of the dark forces that lurked in Domino Below."

"Is that why this man...nequin is called Sen?" asked José.

"'Sen' means a thousand in Japanese," Damballa explained. "Because to him, Sen was just one amongst hundreds and thousands of versions of Seto Kaiba who lived, laughed and died."

"At least I'm much better looking than the me who has the hair the color of your feathers, José!" Sen laughed once more, mouth wide with those nail teeth sticking out as if he was a piranha.

Once again, Seto whacked him across the head with a slipper.

"We never mention that world," Seto muttered.

"But it was still…"

"We NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN!" Seto shouted, his voice loud enough to cause a bookshelf to topple onto the floor. After Damballa coughed from the dust that rose in the air, he cleared his throat.

"Now, if you're wondering what I am," he said to triplets. "I am a being called a Serpent. We Serpents are known to traverse multiple worlds, hearing the cries of the dead to help them complete their final requests. In return, after the request is completed, we devour their souls and return them to the Starry River of Souls itself, where it should be bathed and ready for their next life.

"Whenever we make a contract with a soul, we Serpents transform into a mirror image of the being. Those who have had more 'experience' with this sort of work can alter the age and appearance of the soul. However, if they are just beginning, then the image is essentially the being with the age altered to match the Serpent."

"How does that work?" asked June, fixated with this type of thing. Compared to her sisters, stories and myths about death and the afterlife always intrigued her. After the Caballeros returned from their trip to the underworld at Mt. Fuji, she begged them to tell them their story about the tengu guards and the entrance being at a forest...and then shuddering when she discovered that the forest - known as Aokigahara - was a well known hotspot for _suicide…_.

"Well, let's take my grandson for example," said Damballa, removing his hat. He stuck his hand into it as if searching for a rabbit, and instead pulled out a photograph. "He's a very young Serpent, and if you were to put it in human years, he would be the equivalent of a 5 or 6 year old."

"Grandson?!" Panchito exclaimed. "You have a _grandson_?"

"Yes, and he goes by the name of Quetzalcoatl." Damballa then showed the photo to the group. There was Damballa himself, and in his arms was a young boy with blond feathery hair, bright crimson eyes and, strange enough, his right arm resembled a red bird's talon. He had a pair of red and green feathery wings on his back too. "If you ever see him, just call him 'Quetzie' for short. And another thing…"

Damballa narrowed his gold eyes and hissed at the group, causing them to shrink back. Xandra prepared a golden arrow, Ari had his power drill, and Humphrey snarled.

"If I happen to hear that you harmed even a _hair_ on my grandson's forehead, then I will come for you," Damballa whispered in a sibilant tone. "Then I will take you to my _wife_ so she can make a contract with you and then she will _mummify_ you alive and leave you within a cement-filled coffin where no one will ever find you! Do I make myself clear?!"

"C...crystal clear," Panchito stammered out.

Damballa then nodded his head before he resumed the healing process on Sen. Sen, in the meantime, looked at a card in his hand. The one for Illusion Defender.

"Oh Mokuba," he murmured, a tear falling down his eye. "If only you were here to see me now…"

Seto took a glance at his counterpart before he looked at the card locket around his neck. In his world, Mokuba was preparing for a quiet Sunday, practically oblivious to what his big brother did when no one was looking.

He knew that it couldn't be like this; not after what Seto knew just what Mokuba did long ago, with that single line echoing in his mind.

 _"If you truly do obey me, then...then I wish you threw Gozaburo out of a window when the time is right!"_

Seto shook his head. Even if he did know about Mokuba's little deal with the devil, he wouldn't have been able to stop it. All that he could do was just hope that someday, Mokuba could be at peace with his deal and use the monsters that reside deep within the Burning Abyss into good use without the fear that he would become as heartless, evil and empty as those demons.

"Something's been bugging me," said Xandra, closing the Golden Atlas. "What Sen said about fighting off threats like Tadashi...just what type of threat is he?"

"Do they involves those strange black creatures?" asked April, showing the collection of photos that came with Mono's letter.

"That and more," said Seto. "Those black creatures are known as the 'Earthbound Immortals', ancient beings based on the Nazca lines who bind to a soul of the dead in order to wreak vengeance. There are seven in total and they all serve a King of the Underworld that wishes to consume the souls of the living world for his own pleasure….Usually."

"U...usually?" Daisy stammered. "What do you mean by that?"

"You'll see," Seto answered just as Damballa finished repairing the hole in Sen's chest. "You'll see very soon."

And then, Sen rose from his chair, breaking out of the chains binding him, his arms stretched out as he suddenly shouted,

"Sen KITA!" He then twirled around and pointed to Seto as his left hand became wrapped in white flames, a twisted grin on his wooden face. "Now it's time to do this man-to-man!"

Seto groaned. "Not this aga-"

Sen tackled his counterpart to the ground and the two were immediately fighting each other with fire and lightning bolts that left various scorch marks across the cabana. Damballa just rolled his eyes as Sen began shouting the lines of "Jabberwocky" with glee.

"Now, we need to talk about how you guys must stop these Dark Signers," Damballa stated, turning his gaze to the Three Caballeros. "As you know, they had their eyes on the Golden Atlas, and you will be needing this particular tome if you want to be three steps ahead of them."

"If we have to go through all of those Zoom Points again," Donald muttered.

Damballa shook his head. "Your work in this world is done for the time being. _Now_ you will be going to other worlds across what we travellers call...the Nightmare Realm."

"Nightmare Realm?" June gasped. "Oooh, tell me more, tell me more!"

Damballa chuckled, showing his pearly white grin.

"It is the space between worlds. And each world can be compared to a river; any time there is a major event, the worlds split in two, one showing one outcome, the other world showing the other outcome.

"As of late, worlds that are supposed to be peaceful have been struck by a malevolent force and resurrecting these poor innocent souls into vengeance-seeking psychopaths known as 'Dark Signers'. I usually take time off of the chaos in my world to see what I can do to help in the Nightmare Realm and so do Sen's... 'brothers'."

"They're a bunch of fun!" Sen cackled, leaning close to stroke Seto's face. "I'm sure you remember the type of fun they wanted to have with you."

Two seconds later, Seto had thrown Sen towards an ancient urn, shattering it into pieces.

"I'll pay for that later!" Seto exclaimed just as Sen performed a kick-up and then summoned a blade from his right arm. "Oh god damn…"

Another series of crashes filled the air as Damballa continued his story as if this sort of thing was absolutely normal.

"With the Golden Atlas, you could make your own zoom points across dimensions if you had the proper spell for it," said Damballa, running his hand towards the book. "I will need absolute silence to complete the spell, so if you don't mind…"

"You want us to calm those two down, don't you?" asked Donald, pointing to the two warriors fighting one another.

"Yes," Damballa answered. "Oh and I should warn you that Sen has a bit of a biting problem."

"I do not!" Sen shouted, only to meet an uppercut in return.

"Yes you do!" Seto retorted. "Or should I mention that time you nearly devoured that poor -"

"I thought it was a watermelon!" Sen replied. "All of that red liquid pouring down its body. Poor little baby was suffering and so…"

This was met with Seto driving a knee right in his counterpart's crotch. Unfortunately, the mannequin just rolled this eyes.

"Seto, this isn't a bar fight," he noted, eyes glowing madly and his smile stretched out to reveal the smile of a serial killer. "Have some _class_!"

And thus the two summoned whips and began lashing out at one another, causing everyone else to look in horror.

"...We'll get right on it," said José.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Ten minutes, a bit of super glue and a hundred nails later…

"Okay," Sen panted, tied to a chair using some curtain ropes. "Finally got it out of my system."

"Good," Seto nodded. "But, quick question...WHY AM I ALSO TIED TO A CHAIR?!"

"You're not tied to a chair," said May. "You just have Humphrey pinning you down while Ari just wrapped some curtains around you."

Indeed, the bear rug had his claws on top of Seto's shoulders and bright purple curtains were used as ropes to bind the CEO.

"That still counts!" Seto shouted, causing Humphrey to be blown away and once again causing a pile of books to topple over. Damballa just pinched the bridge of his nose.

"If we are done," he said, handing the Golden Atlas back to Xandra. "I have used my magic to make your Atlas give you a map of the Nightmare Realm with plenty points of interest. In fact, we'll seize the day and let the Caballeros get a taste of traversing through darkness and mirrors right now!"

Xandra opened the Atlas and a golden map projected onto the wall. However, instead of showing a map of the world, it depicted a medieval-esque land with various names like "Fairy Tale Forest" or "Glade of Lost Memories" in calligraphy. There were also doors marked with strange symbols that were just begging to be opened.

"So, where are we going?" asked Panchito, seeing the strange mannequin, and his human counterpart, look at the projected map on the wall.

"Here," Seto answered, freeing one of his arms to point at a symbol on the map. It looked like an eye with two wings: one gold and one silver. "My world. It will be the best place to get your feet wet in regards to dueling."

"And what about us?" asked Daisy, nervously carrying a rolled newspaper in her hands. "What if those Dark Signers decide to come back?"

"I think our first order of business would be to tidy the cabana up," June suggested, seeing Ari sweep up shards of a broken vase into a dustbin. "Maybe we can find some sort of artifact or book that can give us more information about those Immortals."

"Come stay with us, auntie," May noted in her trademark deadpan tone. "I'm sure 'Jigsaw Daisy' will have her hands busy with helping is clean up this mess."

As she said this, Ari and Humphrey were busy piecing together the shards of the urn with some superglue. With a 'clink', the last piece came into place...only to find the urn to collapse seconds later.

Daisy gulped before sighing.

"All right. But you all better come back here in one piece!" She turned to Donald. "Especially _you_ , Donald."

*Promise," said Donald, hugging Daisy tight.

"Don't forget these!" said April, tossing some objects into Donald, José and Panchito's hands. "You never know when Blazebeak's magic will come in handy.

The items were the amulets of the Caballeros: a round sapphire, a triangular ruby and a square emerald all lined in gold. Said Caballeros put the amulets on and felt power washing over them.

"Wait a second!" said Xandra. "Those Dark Signers are going to play Duel Monsters and have those strange devices, but José and I are the only ones who actually have any knowledge of the game."

"Then it's a great time to learn!" Damballa cackled, watching as Sen easily cut through the ropes binding him with a blade jutting out of his left arm. Seto also removed his ropes with a blade made of light as Humphrey and Ari stepped back. "And here we go, off to the second star on the right and straight on till morning! AHAHAHAHA…."

He pointed to the symbol of the winged eye as seven beams of light were somehow sucked into the map before a gentle "whoosh" hit the cabana and sent the chandelier on the ceiling to crash onto the floor.

"So…" said May, seeing the broken chandelier. "Where do we start?"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Domino City.

Home to all sorts of duelists out there, and a variety of supernatural events chronicled by everyone young and old, it is the perfect place for one to get their feet wet in the world of Duel Monsters.

And for those who aren't into that and would rather have a bite to eat, Domino has a variety of unique eateries.

In one of these places, known as the Café in Wonderland, a young girl dressed like Alice Liddell hummed to herself as she waited by the window to see who was coming.

"I hope they come soon!" she said. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Easy for you to say," said a voice from behind. "Kanata, you've had us working since sunrise getting this prepared!"

Kanata giggled at the person sitting on the sofa. "Oh come on, Yuri. I'm sure you had to wake up every morning for stuff like calisthenics or whatever it was you did for that Professor guy."

Yuri pouted as he removed the purple cat ears topping his head. "I rather you not mention him in my presence. Who knows who could be eavesdropping."

Kanata frowned at that. It hadn't been easy; the night before was a chaotic mess that sounded too much like something out of a movie which involved a trip to Domino Below, a Turbo Duel, a fiery end to the Night Garden and parts of her arms still covered in burn marks. It was nothing more than a miracle that her mother accepted both the story and Yuri in the first place.

But that was what Kanata loved about her mother; Hanako Sakamoto just wanted to make people happy and give them hope.

There was a knock on the door. Kanata peered to find three familiar faces staring through the glass. She rushed to the door and opened it, mouth stretched into a Cheshire cat grin (which was ironic as Yuri was playing the Cheshire puss today).

"Haruka, Masato, Yugo!" said Kanata, seeing the three in front of her. "You're just in time!"

"Sorry that it took so long," said Haruka with a satchel strapped to her side. When she lifted the flap of the satchel, out pop four little dolls waving their arms at Kanata. "But our grandma wanted to make sure that we had our costumes ready and she made us so many snacks and…"

She then looked past Kanata and saw Yuri wave at them. "...What's _he_ doing here?"

"He's living here now," Kanata explained, trying to word things very carefully. She knew how much Haruka wasn't able to forgive Yuri for that stunt back at the WRGP, especially when it involved "reuniting" with Yugo (whom was holding Haruka's hand to prevent her from burning Yuri alive). The Cloth Dolls turned to Yuri and hissed at him, looking ready to leap out of that satchel and claw his eyes out.

"We made a promise," Haruka calmly told her dolls. "We are going to treat him just like we would treat a close friend, all right?"

Reluctantly, the dolls nodded their heads as Haruka entered with Masato and Yugo following them. Masato handed Kanata a bag of strawberry jam cookies in the shape of hearts.

"For the tea party!" he said. "Courtesy of our grandma."

"They look delicious!" Kanata exclaimed. "Oh if only my sister and Serena were here; they said that they were going to spend the day in Maiami City just in case anything 'unusual' popped out. That and your parents are the only ones who can take them back home."

"Whatever they're gonna get into, it can't be as bad as last night," Yugo mused, removing the large top hat that covered his head. "Did your grandma really have to make us these costumes, Haruka?"

"Of course, Yugo!" Haruka giggled, looking at her outfit: a yellow plaid skirt ending with brown leggings, along with a brown blouse and matching chocolate bunny ears topping her head. "For such an occasion such as this, we all have to be dressed for a magnificent Unbirthday!"

"And our grandma is gonna be here for just one day!" Masato added, looking at a mirror. He was dressed as a mouse with tan mouse ears, a yellow bow-tie and a magenta suit. "The least we can do is make her happy."

Yugo shrugged his shoulders as he put the top hat back on before dusting off the sleeves of his crisp white suit with an emblem of a black rabbit on the back. "Well, all right then. And she does make delicious cookies."

And with that, Kanata lead the three to a table that could only be set for a magnificent tea party. On top of a white tablecloth were cups, saucers and teapots colored cyan and white. Silver three tier stands were decorated with matching cyan and white doilies topped with delicious looking pastries. There were glass vases filled with blue and white carnations, a small white clock, and little white rabbit figurines (actually salt and pepper shakers) that added to the Wonderland feel.

"Wow!" said Haruka, eyes shining bright. "It looks amazing!"

Kanata nodded her head as she set the bag of jam cookies onto the table. "I could hardly sleep so I was up at around 6 in the morning getting everything ready for a Mad Brunch! Although, I did make a last-minute invitation for..."

The door to the Café slammed open as a loud voice exclaimed, "Hope we aren't late, dear Alice!"

Kanata looks up to see two more faces. One of them was a girl with navy blue hair in a beautiful red and black dress adorned with hearts. The other was a boy with purple hair wearing a red suit, black pants and white gloves with a pocket watch in hand. On top of his head was a pair of white rabbit ears. Both had Duel Disks strapped to their left arms.

"I hope we aren't late for this very important date!" said the girl.

"No, you're just in time Hikari," said Kanata, noticing the boy dressed as the White Rabbit. "And how did you convince Shinji to dress up?"

"She didn't need to convince me," Shinji answered, pocketing the watch. "She...she wanted to get her mind off of some emotional baggage and I wanted to cheer her up."

Hikari then noticed the guests at the table. "Oh! And who are those two?"

Kanata ushered Hikari and Shinji inside the café. "The one with the crescent bangs is Yugo and the one with cat ears is Yuri. They're...well, it's a long story. Gosh, I don't even know how to explain all of this."

"Perhaps I can do that for you, love."

Everyone turned to see two people sitting at the table. One was an elderly woman wearing a tunic with a red and gold blouse topping it and a red cape. The other was a handsome youth in a white long-coat with two tails and gloves with a bag strapped to his side. The most interesting thing about this stranger was that their face and hair looked eerily similar to Yugo.

"Grandma Mitsuru!" Haruka and Masato shouted, going to the woman and hugging her. "You're here!"

Mitsuru chuckled as she petted their heads. "Ren and I didn't want you guys to feel guilty about not spending more time with me with me so we decided to come here."

Hikari blanched at the woman before turning to Kanata. "Wait a minute, isn't she...Haruka and Masato once said…I mean...she's supposed to be…"

"Dead? Yes I am," Mitsuru chuckled, taking a cup of tea into her hands. Hikari looked ashamed as the old woman added, "But the Gates of Hamunaptra are strong enough to let me walk about today, even if my current body is stuffed in an urn in the cemetery."

Hikari's eye twitched as she looked to Shinji, whose arm was trembling. She then noticed the handsome man playing with Haruka's dolls, waving a spoon around them as they tried to avoid being hit. "And who's he?"

"This is Ren," said Mitsuru, motioning for the children to take a seat. "He's my bodyguard for today. I did take a bit of a beating last night."

"A bit?" Masato exclaimed. "Grandma, that Queen of the Night tried to _strangle_ you! And use those vines to leave marks on your chest and back!""

"And don't forget that fire!" Haruka added, gripping onto her grandmother tight. "I...I was so afraid of hurting you again! I'm so sorry!"

Mitsuru sighed as she patted Haruka's shoulder. "Now, now, Harpy Girl, you know how that I'm made of much sturdier stuff. I was more amazed at your bravery in helping our dear Winter Lily here."

As she said this, Haruka turned to see Yuri sitting down next to Kanata, fiddling with the pendulum hanging over his heart. The blush on Yuri's face when Kanata served him a chocolate chip scone was adorable...even if Haruka still couldn't shake off what Yuri did to Yugo back at the WRGP.

"Yeah," Haruka whispered, releasing herself from her grandmother before she took her seat next to Yugo, all while Hikari looked back at Haruka and then at Mitsuru in confusion.

"Haruka's grandmother called her 'Harpy Girl'? But Haruka…." Hikari froze again as she took her seat. "Um, Miss Mitsuru, don't you know that Haruka doesn't…"

"Haruka will learn to let go of her bias on those creatures later," said Ren, watching as Shinji took his seat next to Hikari. "And don't get me started that one time when Yugo convinced Haruka to dress up as a Harpie Lady for Duel Monsters Spirit Day!"

Yugo nearly spat out the tea he was drinking when he heard that. "I did what?!"

"It's true!" Ren said, watching Yugo wipe his mouth with a cloth napkin. "I even have photos to prove it…" He opened his satchel and frowned. "Oh, right, they're back in their house, probably guarded by…."

"Hang on a second," Hikari interrupted, placing a hand on her forehead. "Just who are you and how do you know so much about them?"

At this, Ren chuckled and pulled out a book from his bag. He handed it to Hikari and said, "Page 42, if you will."

Hikari took the book into her hands and opened it, seeing a drawing of a tree colored in vibrant green and burnt sienna ink with various names on it written in calligraphy. Hikari tilted her head in confusion when she saw how the names were written backwards. Then, it clicked.

"Mirror language!" she noted as she picked up an ivory hand mirror and placed it so that the words were reflected. Masato also approached her as they stared at the reflected image. Then, they gasped and Hikari dropped the mirror from her hand (with Shinji grabbing it just in time before it broke and cursed Hikari with seven years of bad luck).

"What is it?" asked Kanata. "What did you see?"

Shinji picked up the mirror and stared at its reflection. His face blanched when he turned to Kanata, Haruka, Yugo and Yuri.

"Um," he said. "You...you might wanna have a good grip on your teacups when you see this."

"Oh, just give us the news already!" Yuri snapped. "It can't be that bad!"

Shinji just shrugged his shoulders as he lifted the book to the four, the mirror reflecting the words back at them. The looks on the four teens' faces were the color of fresh cream.

"W...what?!" asked Haruka, looking at Ren before looking at the book and then back to Ren. "You're...you're…"

Ren smiled sheepishly. "Hello, grandma Haruka, grandma Kanata, grandfather Yugo and grandfather Yuri. I'm your grandson."

The four looked in horror, dropping their teacups onto the floor with a collection of thuds before they all screamed one single word.

"WHAT?!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So...is this what the Nightmare Realm looks like?"

That was what Panchito asked as he and the other Caballeros looked around. They were in this strange black space with various trees and doors floating about in this nothingness. From the corner of the rooster's eye, he thought he saw a trio with blond hair rising from a ring of fire, but he could have been seeing things.

Damballa nodded his head. "It's not that good to look at, but you get used to it. Now, I think you should be acquainted with your new gear before we decide to enter Domino City."

"What gear?" asked José.

Damballa just pointed to their arms with a roll of his eyes while Sen covered his mouth to stifle his laughs and Seto whacked his counterpart over the head with the slipper.

Donald looked down on his left arm and gasped. Strapped to it was a Duel Disk, the main body modeled after his amulet (a gold circle with a blue sapphire in the middle) and the tray was also colored blue and gold. He even had a deck of cards and drew the top five to see what he had.

Meanwhile, Panchito and José also looked at their new Duel Disks (which had a gold triangle with a ruby acting as the deck holder/lifepoint counter for the former and a gold square with an emerald for the latter) and smiled with excitement. Xandra also lifted her left arm to find her Duel Disk was pure gold, with the main body a large 'X' and decorated with the image of a globe in the center.

"Amazing!" José said, looking at his Duel Disk at different angles. "Who knew Blazebeak could be so powerful?"

"I can't wait to try this out!" Panchito agreed. "So, um...how does this work again?"

"It's quite simple," said Seto, showing off his Duel Disk. "Now, bring your Duel Disk arm up…"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So let me get this straight," said Hikari, after everyone had a chance to calm themselves. "Ren, you're a 'Projection' of some sorts."

"That's correct," Mitsuru answered, watching as four little dolls tried to wake a fainted Haruka up by waving a cookie in front of her face. "A Projection is essentially a person who will be in the future. Due to some strange abnormal affects in the timelines or the Nightmare Realm, they might pop up now and then, usually delivering a message to their ancestors to stop a powerful threat, or perhaps to just say hello to them."

"That's...kinda surreal," Hikari admitted, looking back at the family tree in her hands. "So, does Ren know anything about what happens to Shinji and I? Will we get together in the future or…"

Mitsuru chuckled as she observed her granddaughter on the floor, being fanned by her Cloth Dolls as they tried to wake her up. "I don't wanna give anything away, but…" The elderly woman picked up the book and flipped it toward a page. "Take a look."

Hikari blinked and took the mirror into her hands to reflect the names back at her. She stared at it for three seconds before she smiled.

"Thanks," she said, closing the book and handing it back to Mitsuru. "That clears up a lot of things."

"If you're _really_ my grandson," said Yugo, poking Ren with a fork. "Tell me something that we don't know...yet. Like, what type of chaos is gonna happen today?"

Ren just chuckled. "Grandpa, if I told you everything, then it would ruin the surprise! But I can assure you that you're gonna meet up with some very unexpected visitors today."

"Really now?" asked Masato, seeing his sister slowly open her eyes. "Like who? And when?"

"Like now and that little guy on the table in front of you, Uncle Masato," Ren answered.

He pointed to a porcelain doll sitting on the table, all dressed in an adorable harlequin outfit with red, yellow, green and blue diamonds with a matching cap-and-bells covering short black hair and red and yellow crackoes. Covering his eyes was a simple black mask and he had a bright pink blush on his cheeks. He was eating a rose petal macaron, oblivious to the eyes staring at him.

"He's sooooooo _cute_!" said Kanata cooed, picking the doll up and inspecting him. "Hello, little guy! Where did you come from?" She hugged him close and added, "I think someone should be placed on a shelf so they don't get…yeep!"

She looked down and saw that there was a small blade attached to the doll's wrist, and that the blade was poking her chest. The doll finished his macaron before he snarled.

"Did you want to...put me...on a SHELF?!" he asked, lifting his face at the girl. "How dare you, you witch! What will it take for me to not cut your tongue out for saying such a thing!"

"Um, I'm so sorry, I had no idea that you didn't like shelves…" Kanata stammered out as the blade in the doll's hand extended. "P...please put it away. I think we can sort things out!"

The doll tilted his head at Kanata before he retracted the blade back into the sleeve of his outfit.

"Fine, fine," the doll said. "But if you do that again, I'll make sure to keep my word and cut your tongue out, Alice."

"First of all, my name is Kanata," Kanata replied, setting the doll down on the table. She, and everyone else, looked in awe as the doll began to walk around the tabletop, flicking the blade out and tapping at a teacup or a cupcake every three or four steps. "And second, how did you get here?"

"I entered through a portal in the Nightmare Realm, easy as that," the doll answered as if he was describing a simple trip to the grocery store. "Oh and call me 'Jester Eiji'."

"Eiji…" Yugo repeated. "As in...Eiji Hino?"

"Yeah," Jester Eiji answered with a nod. "You know, you're pretty smart for someone who has a banana on his head."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY-" Yugo snarled, lunging toward the doll, only stopped by Haruka before he caused a teapot to fall.

"Of course," Jester Eiji smirked. "I could give you a good haircut if you wanted me to! I'm a wizard with knives, after all! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Um, Jester Eiji," said Hikari, tilting her head. "Yugo mentioned something about an 'Eiji Hino'..."

"Otherwise known as _Kamen Rider OOO_!" Yugo noted. "Although, kinda ironic that someone decided to make a doll out of him considering who the main villain of his series was…"

"I was made after that omnicidal doctor bit the dust," Jester Eiji explained. "I was a gift for his and Ankh's son in my world, but…"

"Eiji married Ankh in your world?!" Yugo squealed. "And they have a _son_?!"

"Yeah, yeah, KoAnkh," Jester Eiji replied as Yugo's eyes shimmered like gems and the doll poked at a sugar cube with his blade. "However, I wasn't like this form you see now. The minute I was given to their child, I was placed on a shelf because I was unlike other dolls! I had to watch as the boy I was gifted to ignored me and play pretend with a cutesy little doll like them!"

He pointed to Haruka's Cloth Dolls, who were busy sharing a chocolate chip muffin that Masato split for them, oblivious to Jester Eiji's envy.

"But thanks to my bosses, I was allowed to move and now I stay with them in their world," Jester Eiji finished, seating himself down in front of a white and gold teacup. He then tilted his head at Yuri. "Hey, cat boy. Pour me some, will you?"

"You could at least say 'Please'," Yuri muttered, pouring the rosehip tea into a cup. "Now, about these bosses…"

"Oh yeah, yeah. They're gonna be coming to have a cup of coffee and visit their little brother today at the amusement park. They're easy to identify; one has a hat and the other has a book."

Jester Eiji then took the cup into his small hands and took a sip. "Ah...refreshing."

"Where exactly at Kaibaland are they going to appear?" asked Masato.

"At a food truck with a sign based on puzzle pieces," Jester Eiji answered. As he set the teacup down, he noticed the Team Satisfaction Cloth Dolls staring at him. "Um...hello?"

"You're...different," Cloth Yusei said, apprehensively. "Your construct...it's...not like us."

"Eh?" Jester Eiji tilted at the doll and sniffed the air. "Ugh, something is wrong with your make-up! It's like you're…"

"Well, look at the time!" said Haruka, hastily gathering the dolls and shoving them into her satchel (to which the dolls mewed in protest). "I think we should take this doll's advice and have some fun at Kaibaland today after we get out of these costumes. I, for one, would like to see who I can challenge!"

"You've practically defeated everyone who's come your way," Shinji noted.

"As the Princess of Prophecy, but not as Fortune Fatale!" Haruka corrected him, pumping a fist into the air. "That duel with Yugo back at the WRGP motivated me to redo my F.A deck and now I'm ready to to feel the need for speed in an epic duel! Whoo!" She then noticed her grandmother staring at her. "But, I mean, you're only here for a single day before you go back and...it'd be selfish if Masato and I spent this day without you…"

Mitsuru shook her head. "I have some stuff that I need to do, but I'll come by for lunch and then we can try out some rides together. What do you say, Harpy Girl?"

Haruka smiled. "Yeah! Let's do it, grandma!"

"Well," said Hikari, pulling out her camera. "I guess I can find someone to challenge for _Dawn of the Duel_. What about you, Shinji?"

Shinji shrugged his shoulders. "I've got nothing better to do."

"Ooh, ooh!" said Masato. "I wanna show Yugo around Kaibaland and maybe get to try one of those Turbo Duel simulators! After seeing nee-san go toe-to-toe with Yugo last night, I just have to try it out!"

"And mom would probably want Yuri and I to help around her food truck," Kanata finished. "So...let's all meet at around 1300 hours at Thousand Pieces for lunch?"

"You bet!" said Haruka and Hikari.

"Of course!" Yugo added with a nod of his head.

"Let's have some fun!" Masato exclaimed.

Shinji just shrugged his shoulders. "...Whatever."

"Then it's settled!" Kanata stated, wrapping an arm around Yuri's shoulder. Yuri's cheeks turned the color of a rose when that happened. "We're gonna have the best day ever!"

"Wait a second," said Ren. "Before you go, could...could you all do something for me?"

"What is it, Ren?" asked Haruka, folding her arms across her chest.

Ren's cheeks turned red and he began to push his pointer fingers upward like the corner of a tent. "Well, whenever mom and dad left me at your place, all of you would sing me this cake song to help me go to sleep. So, I was wondering...could you sing it to me, just this once?"

There was a collective pause as everyone stared at Ren as if he had grown a second head.

Then, Kanata immediately shouted, "Of course! I think I know how we can do this!"

And seconds later, she rallied Yugo, Yuri, Haruka and Masato to form a circle around the table with Jester Eiji in the center of it all. Shinji and Hikari stood to the side, with Mitsuru chuckling and Ren looking in awe as if he was at a rock concert.

"All right then!" said Hikari, pointing her camera at the group. "Ready when you are!"

The five stared at each other as Hikari pressed the "Record" button. Then they chanted,

 _"Big cake, round cake_

 _Right in front of me…_

 _Who do you think_

 _This cake could be?"_

"Could the cake be Kanata?" Jester Eiji asked, pointing his knife at Kanata.

"No, it's not me," said Kanata, covering her face with her hands. "I'm just a little ol' raspberry! That big round cake's too red, don't you know?"

She twirled her pointer fingers together before pointing to her right. "Could the cake be Yuri?"

"No, not me," Yuri answered, tapping his hands on the table in rhythm. "I'm the juicy apple for all to see."

He turned to the person on his right. "This big round cake likes this doll here, can't you see? Is the cake Yugo?"

Yugo smirked, hands clasped in prayer. "No, it's not me. I am the cheese."

He began tapping a foot in rhythm. "This big round cake is tumbling, you see! Could the cake be Masato?"

"No, not me!" Masato stated. "I'm the pumpkin full of seeds. This big round cake is sweeter than sweet…Could the cake be Haruka?"

"No it's not me!" Haruka giggled. "I'm the melon, don't you see? When you slice the melon, it will give you sweet dreams!"

Then, the five sang the last verse as Hikari gave a thumbs up to Shinji.

 _"Then why does the cake taste bitter of late?_

 _Cause the dragon's dream is the one on the plate…_

 _It's so plump…_

 _It's gonna taste GREAT!"_

And the last thing Hikari recorded was Jester Eiji lightly tossed into the sky before he landed in Kanata's arms, a smile on his face.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

After a bit of Duel Disk 101, Damballa lead the group to the door that lead to Seto's world before departing. He said something about making sure that his grandson and his friends were doing okay in another world, but would come to Domino City the minute he sensed trouble.

Thus, it was up to Seto (and Sen) to lead the heroes into an abandoned building before they saw Domino City. Sen quickly hid his presence before Seto lead them to the Kaibaland amusement park, ignoring the looks of many passer-bys as to why he had three birds and a goddess following him like a parade of ducklings following their mother.

Somehow, the person behind the ticket booth didn't seem to mind handing out tickets to a duck, a Brazilian parrot a Mexican rooster and a Goddess of Adventure.

Then again, it was probably due to the "generous bonus" to her paycheck that Seto gave her that didn't make her question this at all.

Seto then handed the four some maps to get them acquainted with the amusement park before he high-tailed it back to his office, thus leaving the group on their own.

This was how José ended up walking along a jungle-like area of the amusement park. Off in the distance was a large treehouse where duelists jumped across platforms while dueling. He thought he was crazy, but perhaps he heard something upon the lines of "Action Cards" along the way.

Still, after what happened with Sen's duel against Tadashi, it probably wasn't as crazy.

José looked at his Duel Disk and tapped his foot. While he was good at dueling, he knew that his skills probably weren't going to match those of Sen or Tadashi's. Then again, he just started playing a game a few weeks after Baron von Sheldgoose left for parts unknown.

Just as José was about to call out for someone, he was stopped by a voice.

"Hello?" said the voice. "Is there anyone willing to take me on?"

José turned and saw that the voice came from a girl with brown hair, wearing a peach belly dancer outfit with golden hearts on the blouse and belt, a lavender skirt and a pink wedding veil over her head with an emerald set in the center. Her feet were covered with sandals, she wore a pendant of a red heart on a golden chain wrapped around her right ankle and adorning her neck was a silver chain pendant of a silver fleur-de-lis with three oval aquamarines set in them. Strapped to her arm was a Duel Disk colored red and decorated with five petal flowers. She also had bright blue eyes that shone like sapphires and strapped across her shoulder was a satchel depicting two lavender wolves howling at the moon.

"Oh!" said the girl, noticing José. "Are you some sort of Mascot Duelist?"

"Me?" José answered, straightening his bowtie. "Oh, no, no. You may call me José Carioca, or just plain 'José' for short. Now, are you a duelist?"

"I certainly am!" The girl giggled. "Name's Haruka Sakurada. You can call me 'Fortune Fatale' if you want. You looking for someone to duel?"

"Why of course," said José. "Me and my friends are here as training for a special quest to save multiple worlds from the Dark Signers."

"...Really now?" Haruka asked with a smile. "Well, if you need some help, I think I can give you exactly what you need. What do you say we have a quick duel?"

"Now you're speaking my language!" José laughed as he activated his Duel Disk. "So, you ready?"

"The Wheels of Fate are turning!" Haruka announced, also activating her Duel Disk. "Let's duel!"

 **(José: 8000) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 8000)**

"Ladies first," said José, tipping his hat.

"My, how sweet of you," said Haruka, drawing her cards. "Okay, I'll start with a face-down monster and an additional face-down card. And that's it."

"Really now?" José chuckled, as he saw the two holographic face-down cards in front of Haruka. He then drew his card. "Well, let's see how you like my Field Spell, Rising Air Current!"

A large updraft of air blew across the field, causing Haruka to grab onto the front of her skirt so it didn't fly away. José gripped onto his straw hat before the wind died down.

"Now all WIND monsters on the field gain 500 attack points and lose 400 defense points," he explained. "And this will be perfect for me to introduce the star of my deck...presenting the beautiful, fierce, savage, extraordinary…"

 _Oh no..._ Haruka thought. _Don't tell me that he's gonna be playing a…_

"Harpie Lady 1!" José finished.

With a loud screech, a powerful female figure rose. She had cyan skin, pointed ears, yellow eagle talons for hands and feet, magenta hair that fell past her shoulders, and wore purple armor over her chest. She had green feathery wings under her arms that flapped before she flew into the sky, laughing at the power that washed over her. (1300/1400 -) 2100/1000)

"Harpie Lady 1 gives all WIND monsters an additional 300 attack points," José explained proudly. "So unless your monster has a high defense, Harpie Lady 1 will sure to be...uh, Haruka, why are you…"

"You play a Harpie Lady deck?" said Haruka, staring at the savage Winged Beast monster.

"Why yes," José answered. "I find them to be both terrifying and beautiful, a sight to behold as they fly into the sky! I am sure a lady like as yourself would agr-"

"I _despise_ Harpie Ladies!" Haruka roared, her eyes glowing like fire. "Those savages are nothing more than screeching pests that do nothing more than annoy you for their name substitution, their shapely bodies to prove how 'deadly' they can be and the fact that, apparently, they can tame dragons and all! You _dare_ to unleash those things upon Fortune Fatale?! Well, let me tell you something José…"

Her stance, which was very cute and playful, was now rigid like a soldier. She snarled as a fiery aura surrounded her and she shouted,

"Fortune Fatale is gonna have fun laying the SMACKDOWN ON YOU!"

And at this point, José knew that he was doomed.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So tell me something, Masato," said Yugo, taking a bite out of some cotton candy. He and

Masato were wearing their normal clothes (Yugo in his white racing outfit and Masato in a green shirt, navy blue shorts and sneakers). "Why exactly does your sister hate Harpie Ladies?"

"Where did this come from?" asked Masato, taking a bite from his sea-salt ice cream. In his lap were Haruka's Cloth Dolls, all of them asleep and dreaming that they were visiting Candy Land and chopping down candy canes with Mr. Minty (this was thanks to Masato teaching them how to play the game as a way to 'babysit' the dolls when he and Haruka had their piano lessons one day).

"Well Haruka got mad when I asked if she played a Harpie Lady deck, and Hikari looked shocked when your grandmother called Haruka 'Harpy Girl'. So…"

Masato sighed, swinging his legs back and forth on the bench they sat on. "My sister wasn't always the great 'Princess of Prophecy' that excels in duels. When she was about my age, she fell in love with Harpie Ladies."

"Really?" Yugo exclaimed.

"Yeah! She wanted to call herself 'Harpy Girl' and declare herself a Winged-Beast duelist. She had a costume of Harpy Girl for Halloween and drew herself flying into the air with these monsters. So for Haruka's 8th birthday, grandma got her a Harpie Lady deck."

"But, for some odd reason, Haruka always got beaten with those monsters. No matter how hard she tried, 'Harpy Girl' had her wings clipped."

"That sounds strange from what people say about the Princess of Prophecy," Yugo noted.

Masato nodded his head. "A few months after a long losing streak, when mom, dad, Haruka and I went to stay with our grandmother, Haruka got furious with her. She told grandma how she hated this deck, how she was losing all the time, and how she despised these Harpie monsters. Grandma tried to reassure her since these were the monsters Haruka wanted, but Haruka stated that she never wanted to use those types of monsters again...

"And to prove it, she ripped every single Harpie Lady in front of grandma before running out of the house."

Yugo gasped, trying to picture this girl actually going as far as to tear Duel Monster cards in a fury. He knew how angry she could be, but that was going overboard!

Masato sighed. "I had to stay inside while grandma went out to find her. And this was a very bad time because our grandma lived in the outskirts of a village where youkai like to parade about…

"And my sister was about to be swept into the underworld without anyone to save her.

"To make a long story short, grandma saved her by summoning a bunch of Harpy Ladies to bring her back and this is what caused my sister to apologize for what she did. Grandma, ever so patient and understanding, just hugged Haruka back and took her back home. And then…."

"And then…" Yugo repeated.

Masato gripped onto his shorts as a tear fell down his eye.

"And then, after Haruka and grandma had a talk about what type of duelist Haruka wanted to be we all went to bed. When we woke up the next morning, we all learned that grandma died in her sleep."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

José had dueled Xandra several times with his Harpie monsters, but the fury and outrage the Goddess of Adventure felt when she was beaten by him was _nothing_ compared to Haruka's anger at him right now.

Still, he couldn't let this go lying down. The duel hadn't even started yet, and here he was cowering in fear.

"Fortune Fatale," he began. "I'm sorry if you may have some...issues concerning my monsters, but if you let that anger take over you, it will make you blind to new experiences."

"Like what?" asked Haruka, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll have to see that for yourself. But for now, I play the Spell Card Elegant Egotist to Special Summon the one and only Harpie Lady Sisters from my deck!"

José slipped a Spell Card into his Duel Disk, showing a beautiful blue and white kaleidoscope design. Then, with a trio of screeches, three more Harpie Ladies appear, all decked in golden armor. One Harpie Lady looks similar to Harpie Lady 1, another had a red-orange pompadour and a third had blue spiky hair as if someone rubbed a balloon on her head. (1950/2100 -) 2750/1700)

"And that's not all," José chuckled. "Now that I have a Level 5 or higher 'Harpie Lady' monster on the field, I can Special Summon a specific 'Harpie Lady' onto the field."

"Wait, there's a Harpie Lady card with an effect like that?" asked Haruka.

"You see?" said José. "You let your anger against these beautiful ladies blind you to new possibilities. Because now I'm going to bring about the fantastically mystifying Harpie Oracle onto the field!"

In a storm of raven black feathers, the newest Harpie Lady appeared. She had cyan hair tied into a high ponytail and long sidelocks that fell to her chest. She wore a lavender corset and violet leggings. Floating between her eagle claws was a large blue crystal orb with two smaller orbs circling around it like two moons. (1300/1400 -) 2100/1000)

Haruka blinked. "What? There's a Harpie Lady _fortune teller_ now?

"See what I mean?" said José. "And now, you'll definitely be seeing more as I play my Continuous Spell Card, the Split Mirrors of Seduction!"

Haruka's eyes widened at the new Spell Card. It displayed five Harpie Ladies in a catwalk beginning with Cyber Harpie then followed with Harpie Queen, and then three other Harpies that she didn't know: one with red hair, one with blond hair tied into a long ponytail and one with magenta hair. Ending the Harpie Lady Parade was the shadow of Harpie's Pet Dragon.

"What this beauty does is," José chuckled. "Well, I'll tell you later on. But for now, attack Harpie Lady 1!"

Harpie Lady 1 obliged and swooped into the air before dive-bombing towards Haruka's face-down monster, a large green insect with orange eyes that embodied a dragonfly. (900 -) 500 DEF)

"Wait a minute!" said José, just as his monster destroyed Haruka's. "Was that a Flying Kamakiri 1?"

"It was," Haruka answered.

"So does that mean...you also play a deck with WIND monsters?"

Haruka nodded her head. "And unlike those feminine Harpies, my monsters fulfill my need for speed! So now it's time for you to take the wheel, F.A. Sonic Meister!"

With a loud vroom, a silver race-car appeared, trimmed with blue and orange. It had two wheels in the front and one in the back with a neon-green strip in the middle and two large jet turbines in the back that roared when the driver stepped on the pedal. (0/1000 -) 800/600)

"Wait a second," said José, looking at his Duel Disk. He then noticed that there was a head's on display for Haruka's side of the field. "This monster you control has 0 attack points! Why would you summon something like that?"

Haruka chuckled. "Because 'F.A. monsters, short for 'Formula Athlete', have a special ability based on their level; they gain 300 attack points times their current level, thus giving it 1200 attack points plus the added boost from your cards!"

The driver of Sonic Meister smirked as the number '4' appeared above the car. (800 -) 2000 ATK)

"But it's still not enough to defeat my monster," José rebuked. "Go Harpie Lady Sisters!"

The trio of gold-armored Harpies flew toward Sonic Meister, all while Haruka shook her head.

"I activate my face-down card, F.A. Downforce!" she shouted.

Haruka's face-down card lifted, revealing two F.A. monsters on a racetrack; one was a black and purple racecar on the road, the other was F.A. Sonic Meister driving on the side.

"For this turn, I can increase the level of one 'F.A.' monster I own by 2," Haruka explained. "Plus, whenever the effect of an 'F.A.' Spell or Trap card is activated, my F.A. monsters gain an additional level. So that means F.A. Sonic Meister gains three levels this turn!"

The '4' on Sonic Meister was now replaced with a '7' as Sonic Meister charged toward the Harpie Lady Sisters with glee. (2000 -) 2900 ATK) The trio had no time to scream as Sonic Meister rammed into them and they were sent flying off the field.

 **(José: 7850) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 8000)**

"Well," said José. "You may have destroyed this trifecta of Harpie Ladies, but you also activated my Spell Card's effect."

As he said this, Split Mirrors of Seduction began to glow.

"When my 'Harpie Lady' or 'Harpie Lady Sisters' gets destroyed, I get to Special Summon a 'Harpie Lady' with a different name from my deck. So now, let me introduce you to another pretty lady I call Harpie Lady Perfumer!"

In a flurry of green feathers, the newest monster emerged. She had lavender hair like a plum blossom adorned with a red feathered headband, wore a maroon bandeau and purple/lavender leggings. In her left claw was a large green/blue/violet perfume bottle. (1400/1300 -) 2200/900)

"And here's a unique effect to my perfumer," said José, as Harpie Perfumer spritzed the air. He and Haruka took a deep breath; the air smelled like cotton growing by the sea. "Normally, when she's summoned, I can take a Spell or Trap Card that has the name of 'Harpie Lady Sisters' in the text.

"However, since I originally controlled a Level 5 or higher 'Harpie' monster - like those sisters - I get to take two of those cards with different names from my deck to my hand."

"What?!" Haruka exclaimed, watching José take two cards into his hand.

"And with that," said José. "I end it with one card face-down. Your move, Fortune Fatale."

At this, Sonic Meister's level dropped. (LV: 7 -) 5, 2900 -) 2300 ATK)

 _What is this guy playing at?_ Haruka mused as she drew her card. _Could he be right about what I think of those Harpies? I mean, I don't really hate them as I just hate the me who used them…_

 _Come on, focus! Don't let him play games with you!_

"My move," said Haruka. "And now, let me give you some info about my 'F.A.' monsters.

"You see, these guys have interesting effects depending on whether or not their level is less than or greater than 7. For Sonic Meister, it cannot be destroyed by a monster whose original level/rank is lower than its current level. This means that, because it is currently at Level 5, none of your monsters can destroy it!"

"No!" José gasped.

"Yes! And now, let me take advantage of your field by summoning a Winged-Beast of my own. I play Kujakujaku in Attack Mode!"

In a burst of peacock feathers, a large peacock rose from the ground. (1200/900 -) 2000/500)

"And now, I attack! F.A. Sonic Meister, go after Harpie Oracle!"

F.A. Sonic Meister grinned as he raced toward José's side of the field.

"Not so fast!" said José. "I activate my face-down card, Amorphous Barrier!"

A large black and purple web materialized in front of the Harpie Lady monsters, causing Sonic Meister to press on the brakes and curse at the Harpies.

"When I have three or more monsters on the field, your attack is negated," said José. "And your peacock pal isn't strong enough to go after my monsters."

Haruka snarled. "No, it isn't. So I end my turn with two face-down cards."

"And I start my turn," said José, drawing his card. "So, seeing as you're not a big fan of my Harpie Ladies...what do you think about dragons?"

Haruka gulped. "You don't mean…"

"I summon the precious, adorable, lovable, wonderful Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon in Attack Mode!" José announced.

With a squeal, an adorable red dragon with a green headdress rising up from its forehead appeared next to the Harpie Ladies. It was held by a golden chain by a Harpie Girl. (1200/600 -) 2000/200)

"Now, don't tell me you have no idea what this little guy is capable of?" said José.

"No, I know what it does," said Haruka. "I can't target any other 'Harpie' monster you control except him. Its original stats are doubled…"

The dragon flexed its wings and roared, looking mighty savage than it originally appeared (2000/200 -) 3200/800)

"And you get to destroy one card I control once per turn," Haruka finished as the dragon unleashed a blast of fire that destroyed F.A. Sonic Meister. "...but Fortune Fatale is going to make sure your monster goes down in flames too!"

"Huh?" asked José.

"I activate my first face-down card...Spiritual Wind Art - Miyabi!"

Haruka's face-down card lifted, revealing the form of Wynn the Wind Charmer with a large kanji for 'Grace' behind her.

"If I tribute a WIND monster I control, I can send one card you control back to the bottom of your deck. Plus, Kujakujaku lets me take a Level 4 or lower WIND type monster from my deck to my hand if it was tributed! Go!"

Kujakujaku squawked as it flew towards Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon. With the strength of a storm beneath its magnificent feathers, the two were thrown back as Haruka took another card to her hand.

"That was a foolish move," said José. "Now you have no monsters to save you from my direct attack! Get her!"

The three Harpie Lady monsters nodded their heads before they flew into the air, one leg out to deliver a trio of kicks that would leave a lot of scratches on Haruka's outfit.

"Not so fast!" she said. "I activate my other face-down card, F.A. Overheat!"

Haruka's lone card lifted, depicting two F.A. monsters at the finish line; one was the black and purple car from F.A. Downforce while the other was a larger F.A. Sonic Meister.

"Since you're the only one to control a monster, I can use this card to Special Summon an 'F.A.' monster from my hand and increases its level by 3 until the end of this turn. So, hang on tight, because I'm summoning F.A. Hang On Mach onto the field!"

With a loud whirr, a blue-violet hoverbike with red and yellow trim appeared, driven by a rider who wore a similar racing suit. Their face was obscured by the visor of their helmet, although they had blue hair curled in cornrows. (LV: 4 -) 8, 0/1800 -) 2000/1400 -) 3200/1400)

"Oh no!" José stated, watching Harpie Perfumer being run over.

 **(José: 6850) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 8000)**

"Split Mirrors of Seduction activates!" said José. "Now I can get to...huh?"

He looked at his Duel Disk but noticed that Harpie Perfumer wasn't in his graveyard, but rather his Banished zone. Haruka chuckled.

"I told you that 'F.A.' monsters have different effects depending on their level," she said. "And in the case of Hang On Mach, when he's level 7 or higher, all cards that would be sent to your graveyard are Banished instead."

"I still can Special Summon another monster though," José replied. "So now I Special Summon Harpie Channeler onto the field!"

With the sound of bells ringing, a new Harpie emerged. Her hair was red and tied up in a strange hair-loop style with two tails at the end. She wore a white and black dress with long black feather wings like that of a fallen angel. In her left talon, she held a chain while in her right hand she wielded a staff topped with silver feathers. (1400/1300 -) 2200/900)

"I end my turn at that," said José. Meanwhile the '8' that was above the head of F.A. Hang On Mach dropped to a '4'. (LV: 8 -) 4, 3200 -) 2300 ATK)

"And I start mine," said Haruka, drawing her card. "And it's getting a bit too breezy around here, so I'm going for a change of scenery. It's time for a day at the races! Let's go to the F.A. Circuit Grand Prix!"

The large updraft of air died down as the scenery changed into a large futuristic racetrack with blue roads and yellow arrows and green circuitry lines on the ground. Suddenly, two hoverboards appeared beneath the feet of José and Haruka, causing Haruka to whoop in excitement while José gulped to see the attack stats of his Harpie Lady monsters drop.

 _Harpie Lady 1: (2300/900 -) 1800/1300)_

 _Harpie Oracle: (2100/1000 -) 1600/1400)_

 _Harpie Channeler: (2200/900 -) 1700/1300)_

"Now this is my style!" said Haruka. "And with this, all 'F.A.' monsters on the field gain 2 additional levels during the Battle Phase which starts...now!"

Hang On Mach revved his vehicle up (LV: 5 -) 7, 1800 -) 2700 ATK) and sped toward Harpie Oracle, the blue-haired Harpie covering her beloved crystal ball in her claws before she was destroyed and the crystal ball shattered into a dozen shards.

 **(José: 5550) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 8000)**

"Split Mirrors of Seduction activates!" said José. "Now I shall summon Harpie Dancer onto the field!"

Haruka rolled her eyes as she saw the Harpie Lady with a long blond ponytail onto the field, wearing a navy blue bodysuit with black accents that made her think of a Harpie Lady who decided to cosplay as Zero Suit Samus and slapped on some angelic wings just because. (1200 -) 1500 ATK)

"Oh and one more thing," said Haruka. "When an 'F.A.' monster successfully destroys a monster while Circuit Grand Prix is on the field, I get to draw a card."

She drew her card, looked at it, then nodded her head.

"And I'll end it with one card face-down and end my turn," she said as the level of F.A. Hang on Mach dropped to 6. (LV: 8 -) 6, 2700 -) 2100 ATK). "Let's see if Harpie Lady Half-Genie Hero has a trick up her sleeve."

"We shall see indeed," said José, drawing his card.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Yay! We're here! We're here!"

Kamitsure smiled as she saw Molly jump around in joy at being at the ticket booth for the amusement park. The girl at the booth paid no attention at the woman wearing the white headphones with long black wires and yellow dress who looked like she should be at a fashion show, the little girl in white dress and blue pinafore or the fact said little girl was on a large lion with dark violet fur, a fluffy mane the color of cornsilk and sandy colored wings. It was probably due to the extra money Kamitsure handed her, to which the girl just nodded her head as Molly waved goodbye.

"Isn't this so exciting, Mr. Spooky?" Molly asked the lion she was riding. "I wish Malik can join us right now, but he's helping Korni nee-chan with some deliveries in Domino Below! Oh and something about a 'Night Garden' too."

 _He'll come after he's done. Just be patient, Molly._ Mr. Spooky replied with a soft growl. _I can't believe you can be this cheerful even after what happened to you._

"It's okay," said Molly, scratching one of the sphinx's ears. "Now come on, let's have some fun today!"

"We have to be on guard also," said Kamitsure, looking at her Duel Disk. "Seto mentioned that we might have some 'uninvited guests' coming over today."

"Ooh, a surprise!" Molly exclaimed. "What will they look like?"

Kamitsure frowned as she looked at the sky. Then it clicked.

"You know how we can sense how people are 'off'?" she asked. Molly nodded her head. "Well Molly, if you feel really uncomfortable without understanding why, then we'll know that these uninvited guests have arrived."

"Ohhh…" said Molly. "Okay then!"

Kamitsure chuckled and patted the girl's head. "Now, what do you say we go on the roller-coaster before the line gets too long?"

"Yay! Let's do it! Let's do it!"

Molly guided Mr. Spooly toward the largest roller-coaster as Kamitsure closed her eyes. Then, when she opened them, they were as black as the night itself.

 _Those guys think they can hide from an_ experienced _Dark Signer?_ She thought. _Well, let's let them have their fun; the minute they slip up, that will be their end._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _This girl is giving me trouble._ José thought as he looked at his hand. _But what troubles me more is that she cannot let her hatred of these Harpie Ladies go. I wonder...did she have some sort of trauma associated with these monsters?_

"Tick tock, José," said Haruka. "You've been staring at your hand for three minutes. Hurry it up so I can kick some Harpie tail, okay?"

José sighed. "Tell me, little lady. Why do you hate Harpies? I mean, look at you in comparison to Harpie Dancer."

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY COMPARING ME WITH HER?!" Haruka screeched, the fiery aura returning once more.

"Well, you're dressed the same!" José pointed out. "She's a dancer and you are a dancer too!"

"I don't flaunt myself to the bewilderment of men!" Haruka exclaimed, hand on her heart. "And this is just an outfit I wanted to wear today! If I were to be compared with one of those Harpies, I guess you could say that I'm Harpy Oracle."

"Really now?" asked José, raising an eyebrow. "Then, just based on appearance alone, who would the others be?"

Haruka tapped a finger on her chin in thought.

"Well, I guess Harpie Channeler is Serena because Serena is into summoning spooky things," she said, pacing back and forth. "Harpie Dancer is Kanata because they like twirling and moving about. As for Millefeui...well, I don't know if there's one that involves dolls or the like, but perhaps Harpie Perfumer is her?"

"See?" said José. "It seems as if you have something in common with those Harpies."

"...like what?" asked Haruka.

"Harpies work together in groups. And it seems as if you have some very close friends, correct?"

Haruka paused. "Well, yeah."

"United they stand, divided they fall," José continued. "All of them have effects that are connected to each other. They draw their strength from the winds and from being on the field together. I'm sure you can understand that."

"...You're right," said Haruka. "I mean, all this time I always saw them as individuals, never as something combined into a whole. When I see it that way, I don't have to be so angry at them.

"...but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on you," she said with a smirk. "I wanna see what type of surprises you're hiding, José. Think you can surprise me?"

"I'll see what I can do," José answered. "So first, I play the Spell Card Hysteric Sign!"

A new Spell Card appeared on José's field, depicting Harpie Channeler summoning Harpie's Pet Dragon from a large, elaborate magical seal.

"This lets me take an 'Elegant Egotist' card from my deck or graveyard to the hand," said José, just as a card popped out of his graveyard. "And I'll play that to Special Summon Cyber Harpie Lady onto the field!"

The Kaleidoscope Spell Card appeared again as a copy of Harpie Lady 1 emerged, wearing purple armor and wielding a large thorny whip. (1800 -) 2100 ATK)

"And now here comes my Normal Summon. Hear the wondrous melodies of the Harpie Harpist!"

The sound of someone plucking harp strings echoed across the field. Then, the newest Harpie Lady appeared in a sea of green feathers. She had skin the color of marble, and her magenta hair also had streaks of orange and yellow like a candle flame. She wore a black skin-tight suit and in her talons was a golden harp with golden feathers. (1700 -) 2000 ATK)

"And...what exactly does she do?" asked Haruka.

"It's quite simple, really," said José. "When she's Normal Summoned, I take one Winged-Beast monster I control, take a monster that you control, and they both return to our hands."

"WHAT?!"

Harpie Harpist sighed as she played a few notes on the harp. Then, a strong gust of wind wrapped around Harpie Dancer and F.A. Hang On Mach before their cards were blown back into José and Haruka's hands.

"And that's not all," said José. "You heard about Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (and also just normal Harpie's Pet Dragon) but have you ever heard of the Harpie's Pet Dragon that can be brought out through Xyz Summoning?"

As José said this, a black portal materialized in front of him as Harpie Harpist, Harpie Channeler and Harpie Lady 1 turned into green beams of light and leapt into the portal. José cleared his throat as he chanted,

 _"Brave dragon who serves the fearsome Harpies, help these ladies bring about your reckoning. Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Descend Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon!"_

With a loud roar, Haruka was knocked onto her butt as she stared at the large dragon in front of her. It looked similar to the famous Harpie's Pet Dragon but surrounded with a dark aura that caused her to look in fear. Next to its side was a Harpie Channeler grabbing onto a black chain attached to a collar. Three green orbs circled its massive body. (2000 ATK)

"Holy Hecate…" Haruka whispered.

José chuckled. "Seems as if you were blinded by rage to see the pure beauty and powerful of these monsters. That shall be your downfall because as long as my dragon has Overlay Units, she can attack you directly!"

The giant dragon growled as Haruka slowly stood up, looking at the face-down card in front of her.

"But it's custom for ladies to go first," José observed. "Go Cyber Harpie Lady! Attack directly!"

Cyber Harpie Lady cracked her whip before lashing out at Haruka, who smirked.

"I activate...F.A. Dead Heat!" She exclaimed.

Her face-down card flipped over, revealing a first person's view for the inside of F.A. Sonic Meister. In front of him was the purple and black car, while hovering over the driver's right arm was the hologram of a young girl.

"When you attack directly, I can Special Summon an 'F.A.' monster from my deck!" Haruka began. "And the one I choose is my F.A. Turbo Charger!"

With a roar of a mighty monster truck, a...monster truck drove onto the field. It was large, with a navy blue color scheme and yellow glowing lines, and engine pipes sticking out from the hubcaps of the tires. In the driver's seat, the driver cackled in glee. (LV: 6 -) 9, 0 -) 1800 -) 2700 ATK)

"And that's not all," said Haruka. "I don't think you want to take a risk, but if you do…"

Two die appeared above José and Haruka's heads.

"W...what is this?" asked José.

"This is F.A. Dead Heat's special ability!" Haruka answered. "Once per battle, we roll a die. And depending on the numbers, one of three possible outcomes activates: if my roll is higher, Turbo Charger gains 4 additional levels, if yours is higher, Turbo Charger is destroyed and if it's a tie, we roll again. So...what's your choice?"

José looked at Cyber Harpie Lady poised to attack, while Turbo Charger smirked and pressed on the accelerator and the engine roared.

"What's life without risk?" asked José. "Go, dice roll!"

The dice above their heads spun madly before they dropped onto the ground. Haruka's turned out to be a simple four while José's spun madly until it dropped onto…

"A 1?!" José gasped, seeing a single pip on his die.

Turbo Charger cackled in glee as he charged toward the purple-armored Harpie Lady (LV: 9 -) 14, 2700 -) 4200 ATK). Cyber Harpie Lady tried to lash with her whip, but seconds later she exploded in a puff of feathers, taking a chunk of José's lifepoints with her.

 **(José: 3150) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 8000)**

"That had to hurt," Haruka commented as she drew a card. "So, who are you gonna summon now?"

José groaned as Split Mirrors of Seduction glowed before a small dragon emerged, stretching its wings. (1200 ATK) Haruka grimaced.

"This will hurt even more," said José. "Now my dragon, attack directly!"

Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon flapped her wings and unleashed a blast of fire that hit Haruka's Duel Disk, knocking the girl flat on her back with a groan.

 **(José: 3150) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 6000)**

"There's more where that came from," said José. "And with that, I shall end my turn. Because of this, I must detach an Overlay Unit from my Phantasmal Dragon."

A green orb faded away from the large dragon as Haruka slowly sat up then rose to her feet and Turbo Charger's level dropped all the way to 8. (LV: 14 -) 8, 4200 -) 2400 ATK).

"My turn then," she said, drawing her card. "And I start by playing Star Changer."

The Quick-play Spell Card appeared, showing a multitude of red orbs with yellow stars on them.

"With this, I can either increase or decrease the level of a monster I control by 1. And for this, I'm gonna lower the level of Turbo Charger!"

"What?" said José. "But didn't you say F.A. monsters get stronger when you _increase_ their level? Plus, this won't change Turbo Charger's effect at all!"

"I'm gonna do something different with this," said Haruka, watching as a large '7' appeared over Turbo Charger. (LV: 8 -) 7, 2400 -) 2100 ATK) "You see, if I have an 'F.A.' monster on the field with a level of exactly 7, then I can Special Summon F.A. Dark Dragster from my hand onto the field!"

Next to Turbo Charger was a racecar that José had seen in some of Haruka's cards; it was a purple and black racecar with ridges on the fins and the turbines unleashing a purple glow. (LV: 7, 0 -) 2100 ATK)

"And does he have a special ability depending on his level?" asked José.

Haruka shook her head. "No, but if I reduce its level by 3 I can destroy a card that you control."

"But you can't go after my monsters; as long as Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon has Overlay Units, you can't target my Harpies with effects or attacks."

"...Who said anything about your monsters?"

Haruka then pointed to José's Split Mirrors of Seduction Spell Card as Dark Dragster's level dropped to 4. (LV: 7 -) 4, 2100 -) 1200 ATK)

 _"Ah não,"_ José muttered.

"They say that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck," Haruka mused. "That may be bad for someone who traverses through darkness and mirrors, but I'll make an exception for this! Go!"

Dark Dragster raced past José's dragons and slammed into the Continuous Spell Card, causing José to brace himself as glass shards scattered across the field before vanishing.

"My mirrors are gone," said the parrot. "But now I can Special Summon another 'Harpie' monster from my graveyard. Come back once more, Harpie Lady Sisters!"

The trio of Harpie Lady monsters appeared once more, grasping onto the chain connected to Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon as if protecting it. (1950 ATK, Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon: 1200/600 -) 2400/1200)

"Guess I'll have to end my turn here," said Haruka, playing a card face-down. "Your move."

"Gladly," said José, drawing his card. "Now, I think it's time for another change of scenery. "But first, I bring back the Harpie who looks similar to you."

Harpie Dancer emerged with a spin and a few white feathers swirling around her. (1200 ATK)

"And then, I play my Spell Card, Harpies' Hunting Ground!"

The futuristic race track vanished (and with it, the hoverboards) before it turned into a large grassy field with a large updraft and various monsters fleeing in terror.

"With this, all Winged-Beast monsters gain 200 attack and defense points," José continued.

Harpie Dancer and Harpie Lady Sisters laughed in glee. (Harpie Dancer: 1200/1000 -) 1400/1200, Harpie Lady Sisters: 1950/2100 -) 2150/2300)

"And that's not all. I'm going to use the effect of Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon to destroy your Turbo Charger!"

 _Oh no!_ Haruka noted, looking at her Duel Disk. _Turbo Charger's Level 7 effect is to prevent monsters from activating their effects until the end of the Damage Step; and even if Turbo Charger was one level lower, it still would have been targeted!_

"Go my baby dragon!" José commanded. "Send Turbo Charger to the junkyard!"

Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon smirked and unleashed a powerful gout of flames that caused Turbo Charger to explode, leaving Dark Dragster to face off against three Harpie monsters.

"Get him!" José shouted.

Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon let loose another fiery breath that caused Dark Dragster to howl in agony before exploding in a large cloud of smoke.

 **(José: 3150) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 4800)**

"You next, Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon!"

And the larger dragon unleashed a large blast of wind that nearly sent Haruka flying.

 **(José: 3150) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 2800)**

"Attack directly, Harpie Dancer!"

The blond Harpie twirled around before racing towards Haruka and delivering a swift kick to the girl's chest.

 **(José: 3150) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 1400)**

"And go, Harpie Lady Sisters! Show her the power of the Harpies!"

The trio raised their claws into the air as orbs of white crackling energy materialized. Then, three lines connected the beams until it formed a triangle beam of light that flew straight across the field to Haruka.

"You...won't beat me that easily!" Haruka roared. "From my hand, I Special Summon Speedroid Menko in Defense Mode! And when I do this, all of your monsters go into Defense Mode too!"

Haruka slapped a card onto her Duel Disk, and out popped a strange metal rectangle machine with an orange border and the image of gears inside it. On its corners were a set of fiery streamers. It hurled itself like a boomerang and struck the four monsters on José's side of the field, causing them to drop into Defense Mode. (Harpie Dancer: 1200 DEF, Harpie Lady Sisters, 2350 DEF, Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon: 1200 DEF, Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon: 2500 DEF)

 _It was a good idea to trade with Yugo last night._ Haruka thought to herself. _This thing is a total lifesaver!_

"Wait a second," said José. "If you had that card this entire time, why didn't you use it sooner?"

"Because, José," Haruka answered. "I needed some firepower to activate my face-down card, Shock Draw!"

Her face-down card lifted, revealing a duelist being struck by lightning. In his hand were three cards.

"Now for every 1000 points of damage I took, I get to draw a card," said Haruka, drawing four more cards to expand her hand to six. "So thanks for making me see how Harpies really work."

José frowned. "But even with all of those cards, you can't lay a finger on me. My Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon prevents you from attacking my monsters, while I am free to attack with her one more time."

"...You sure about that?" asked Haruka, watching as another green orb faded away. "Well, let's see…"

She drew her card and stared at it. Then, she chuckled.

"This was a fun duel, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to end it now," she said.

As she said this, F.A. Hang On Mach appeared once more. (LV: 4 , 0 -) 1200 ATK)

"But before that happens," Haruka continues. "Let's say hello to an old friend! I play Magnet Reverse!"

Haruka played her Spell Card, depicting a large boulder being lifted into the air with a green outline surrounded it.

"This card lets me bring back a Machine or Rock monster from my Graveyard that can't normally be Normal Summoned or Set. And for this, I bring back F.A. Dark Dragster for another round!"

Dark Dragster emerged onto the field once more, the driver of said vehicle gripping onto the steering wheel. (Lv: 7, 0 -) 2100 ATK)

"Next, I'll increase its level by 1, along with giving it 500 more attack points, with Synchro Boost."

An Equip Spell Card of Tune Warrior glowing appeared. Then, a large '8' appeared above Dark Dragster. (LV: 7 -) 8, 2100 -) 2400 -) 2900 ATK)

"And now, I am going to reduce the level of Dark Dragster by 3 so I can destroy your Harpies' Hunting Ground!"

Dark Dragster's level dropped to five as a blast of purple light consumed the field. When it died down, José and Haruka were back in the Kaibaland amusement park. (LV: 8 -) 5, 2900 -) 2000 ATK)

"I know what you're thinking," said Haurka. "Well, let me explain this. I used the effect of my monster so that it was just enough for me to Special Summon the Tuner of my F.A. monsters!"

"'Tuner'?" José repeated. "F.A. Monsters utilize Synchro Summons?"

"That's right! But this Tuner is different from others. First off, I have to 'reset' the level of Dark Dragster back to its original 7."

The '5' blinked into a '7' above Dark Dragster. (LV: 5 -) 7, 2000 -) 2600 ATK)

"And then I can Special Summon F.A. Auto Navigator onto the field. And when she's summoned, Auto Navigator's level becomes the difference between Dark Dragster's original and changed level!"

A black scroll with neon green lines unrolled itself next to Dark Dragster. Then, in a storm of green square pixels, there came the image of a holographic girl in a white dress, a small hat on top of a head of green hair and she carried a parasol made of satellite dishes. (LV: 1 -) 2, 0 ATK)

"That's not all. When F.A. Auto Navigator is Summoned, I get to take an 'F.A.' Field Spell Card from my deck to my hand."

"You have another F.A. Field Spell?!" José exclaimed.

"Actually, F.A has three of them," Haruka explained, taking a new card into her hand. "But I'll only need this one to end the duel. But before I play this card, did you notice something peculiar about two of my monsters?"

José looked at the four Machine-type Monsters on Haruka's field before looking on the display of his Duel Disk. Then, he noticed something.

"F.A. Hang On Mach and Speedroid Menko are both Level 4," he stated. "That makes them perfect for…"

"An Xyz Summon," Haruka finished. "Okay Speedroid Menko, F.A. Hang On Mach...all aboard!"

A large black portal emerged in front of her as the Machine monsters turned into green orbs of light that zipped inside. A large gale of wind began to blow as Haruka crossed her arms across her chest.

 _"Impregnable iron fortress, make the earth tremble violently and charge down the railway crawling with the enemy soldiers!_ _Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Come to me, Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf!"_

A set of train tracks rose into the air as a large blue locomotive with a yellow face of a wolf circled around Haruka before stopping in front of her. There was the "choo-choo" sound of a train that sounded similar to the howl of a wolf, the red eyes of the wolf's face glaring at José as two green orbs circled it. (2200 ATK)

"And I'm not done," said Haruka, giving her opponent a cheeky grin. "Time to tune F.A. Dragster and F.A. Auto Navigator to show the strongest of the F.A. monsters!"

 _"Ah não,"_ José muttered again.

F.A. Auto Navigator transformed into a set of green rings while F.A. Dark Dragster shrank until he became a group of seven stars. The stars formed a straight line and zipped through the ring.

 **(2* + 7* = 9*)**

 _"Where racers rest before they journey down the highway of life. Their home away from home of blinding lights, adrenaline and turbo engines! Synchro Summon! Level 9, Appear on the racetracks, F.A. Motorhome Transport!"_

Then, with a loud roar, the newest monster dropped onto the field. It was a massive silver RV with blue and orange trim and a large orange crane mounted on top. If the front of the RV had a face, it would have an expression on something of the lines of, "You are about to die." (LV: 9 , 0 -) 2700 ATK)

"And now," Haruka chuckled. "It's time for me to play my Field Spell Card. Let's head off to the F.A. City Grand Prix!"

The hunting ground faded away until José and Haruka were in a holographic simulation of a racetrack in a large city. Blocky representations of skyscrapers rose above their heads as small orbs of light zipped by.

"With this card, the Levels of all 'F.A.' monsters go up by 2 during both the Main Phase and Battle Phase," Haruka explained.

The driver of F.A. Motorhome Transport stepped on the pedal, the speedometer on the dashboard pointing from 9, then to 11, and then to 12! (LV: 9 -) 12, 2700 -) 3600 ATK)

"That's why you didn't play that card sooner," José noted. "Because if you did, then F.A. Dark Dragster's level would have not have been enough to Synchro Summon!"

"Exactly!" Haruka said. "Also, while this card is on the field, you can't target any of my 'F.A.' monsters with card effects (but it wouldn't matter anyway with F.A. Motorhome Transport since it can't be destroyed at all if its Level is higher than 11)."

"But you've forgotten one thing," said José. "For all of the attack points your monster has, it can't target any of my monsters since Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon has one Overlay Unit still on it."

Haruka folded her arms across her chest. "...Who said I was going to go attack your monsters?"

"...Huh?"

"I detach an Overlay Unit from Heavy Armor Train Ironwolf! By doing so, I can choose one Machine-type Monster I control and, for this turn, it can attack directly!"

José's beak dropped as said train howled and a green orb shattered. Then, a green aura surrounded F.A. Motorhome Transport as the driver pressed on the horn and a loud HONK! filled the area.

"Aye yi yi... " José muttered.

"Your Harpie monsters are good, " Haruka chuckled. "But try to rely on something outside the box next time.

"And with that, Motorhome Transport, attack directly!"

Motorhome Transports' crane rose into the air as if it was Vulcan at his forge and then brought the crane down, squashing José onto the ground.

 **(José: 0) - - - - - - - (Haruka: 1400)**

"Ka-chow," said Haruka, snapping her fingers. "And with that, victory is mine."

The holograms disappeared as José sat up, seeing Harpie Ladies fly around his head. After shaking his head clear, he looked up and then saw Haruka extend a hand out to him.

"So," she said. "Care to explain why you're _really_ here?"

José blinked. "Uh, well...would you honestly believe that some guy named Seto Kaiba appeared in my world telling me and my fellow Caballeros that we are to stop these beings known as Dark Signers from wreaking havoc across other worlds?"

There was an awkward pause as José took Haruka's hand and stood up. José dusted off his sleeves as he saw the expression on Haruka's face. It wasn't one of shock or disbelief.

Instead, she just grew silent before she turned to her Duel Disk and pressed a button on it.

"Yusei?" she said to it, much to José's confusion. "You and Kiryu better get to Kaibaland right now. We've got some uninvited guests here. No, Masato has the dolls, and no I didn't blow up like I did last night. Come as soon as you can, okay?"

After she hung up, Haruka turned around and smiled. But that smile looked like the smile of a child who was having way too much fun causing things to blow up.

"What do you say we go see my brother?" she asked. "And while you're at it, why don't you explain more about how _Seto Kaiba_ tasked you with this mission. I'm sure there's no way you can refuse such an offer, right, José?"

And it was at this moment that José knew that he was in trouble.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Well, that was something."

That came from a cloaked figure with a telescope in hand. They pocketed it before staring off into the distance. When Hiro told them about this place, it was a bit hard to believe. Instead of a medieval castle, there were strange mechanical creatures and buildings that reached the sky. They wondered if someone would ever try to scale such a thing and what type of beings actually were inside said edifices.

They then stared at the figure next to them, nervously running their hands through their braided hair.

"So, princess," the one with the telescope said. "What do you think of this place?"

"It's...big and...loud and...amazing," the one with the braid said. "I can't wait to see what they have to offer!"

"Well, it's no Lantern Festival but it's pretty festive," the male chuckled. "So, how about we spend some time winning a few prizes?"

The girl chuckled and placed a kiss on her beloved's cheek. "I'd like that."

The two then walked into a portal, the portal briefly showing the image of a large purple bird before it vanished.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

" _I Understood That Reference!" (Where the author notes references that the reader might not have noticed the first time)_

Yugo's Mad Hatter outfit is based off of the one Paul London wears in _Lucha Underground_. The only difference in outfits is that Yugo's doesn't have the sequin-studded codpiece that London wears.

The Cake Song is based off the infamous one from _Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie: Rebellion_

There are two _Kamen Rider_ references Sen and Seto reference; Sen's "Let's do this man-to-man!" is the catch phrase of Gentaro Kisaragi/Kamen Rider Fourze while Seto whacking Sen in the head with a green slipper comes from _Kamen Rider Double_.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _ **Next time: All Donald wants to do is get a bite to eat! But before he can dig in, his opponent is ready to dish out a challenge that the poor duck cannot refuse.**_

 _ **"Dishing Out Dirt" coming soon.**_


	4. Dishing out Dirt

_**One benefit of having April, May and June around was that they were willing to help me understand more of the modern world after I had been stuck in the Atlas for centuries…**_

 _ **But despite how easy it was to access knowledge in their world, it absolutely meant**_ **nothing** _ **in another.**_

 _ **I was on edge the entire time. Just because we were in a city where Seto Kaiba regularly stopped strange and supernatural threats from going crazy (and, as we learned later on, there were some things that even the great Kaibaman was unable to stop) doesn't mean we were safe. Those Dark Signers could be watching us...planning on attacking us when our defenses were down...they could have been anyone…**_

 _ **Even the girl who decided to duel Donald when all he wanted was to eat.**_

 _ **After all, some of the most evil things come from people that you least suspect.**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **3rd Sign**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Dishing Out Dirt**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"All right then! Who else wants to try?"

This came from a man wearing an orange shirt and matching pants with a maroon coat and a matching cap over his black hair. They had an ID tag that read "Daniel" pinned onto his jacket. As a kid hopped off a D-Wheel mounted to an arcade machine, his blue eyes sparkled when he saw Masato.

"This looks so cool…" Masato said, preparing his snowflake-designed Duel Disk. He then turned to the Cloth Dolls on his shoulders and head. "What do you think, guys?"

"It'll be like when Haruka dueled last night!" said a Cloth Doll with silver-blue hair and a brown vest. He then tilted his head when he saw his companion, with black hair that looked like a crab and a blue jacket, stare blankly ahead. "Cloth Yusei? Hello?"

Cloth Yusei blinked when he saw his companion wave a hand in front of his face. "Cloth Kiryu, doesn't that guy look...familiar?"

"Hmph!" said a third doll in a white coat and yellow hair. "A king must know his subjects well, so we shall see who this guy is." He then looked up to the doll sitting on Masato's head, with red hair that made him seem like a volcano erupted from his cranium. "Go check on him, Cloth Crow."

"Why don't you do it, Cloth Jack?" Cloth Crow grumbled as a pair of black feathery wings emerged from his back. He leapt into the air and hovered gently towards Daniel, the man turning to the doll and smiling at him.

"Oh, hello there," Daniel said, taking the doll into his hands. "My, you're a cutie."

Cloth Crow blushed as Daniel poked his cheek. As this went on, Yugo frowned.

"That face…" he muttered. "Something about him looks familiar…"

"Oh come on, you're probably imagining things," said Masato, stepping onto the D-Wheel and strapping his Duel Disk onto it. "Ooh, I wonder what type of duelists I can fight with this."

"That's gonna have to come later, Masato. We need to talk."

Masato turned to see his sister approach them, along with a green parrot wearing a straw hat, yellow suit and carried a black umbrella in his…"hands"? There was also the fact that he had a Duel Disk based off of an emerald strapped to his left arm.

"Nee-san," said Masato. "What's going on? And who is that?"

"Um, _Saludos amigos_ ," said the parrot. "I am José Carioca, one of the legendary Three Caballeros and I'm here to...uh…"

"Say it," Haruka muttered, a red circle with fiery flowers appearing over her right hand.

José began to sweat as three sets of human eyes and four sets of doll eyes stared at him. Haruka just raised an eyebrow as she stared at Daniel before she burst out laughing.

"What the hell is that outfit?" she asked. "This is your 'undercover' look, Yusei?"

"Y...Yusei?!" Masato and Yugo shouted, staring at Daniel. Cloth Crow squeaked as Daniel chuckled.

"Oh, Princess of Prophecy," "Daniel" said, closing his eyes as he removed his cap. "Nothing escapes your vision, does it?"

When "Daniel" opened his eyes, they were black as the night. Then, a tornado of black wind surrounded him before his clothes transformed into a blue coat decorated with amber orbs, black shirt and black pants. A yellow mark that went down his left eye appeared on his face before it darkened to the color of dried blood. Cloth Crow squeaked and flew back into Masato's hands as Cloth Yusei cheered.

"Yay, big self!" the doll said. "You're here, you're here!"

"Huh?" asked Yugo. "What about the finals for the WRGP? You have to fight Team New World else you're disquali…"

"It's going to be cancelled very soon," Yusei interrupted. "But that's not the important thing. Haruka, you sent a message about some 'uninvited guests', right?"

Haruka nudged an elbow into José's side, the Brazilian parrot letting out a sigh.

"Well, you see, _Senhor_ Yusei," José began. "I was sent here, along with three of my closest friends, because we were tasked by Seto Kaiba to prepare ourselves against these beings that call themselves 'Dark Signers'. So, I was wondering if…"

In a flash, José brought his umbrella out, just in time. In the second it took for him to do that, Yusei had lunged toward him, his eyes like mirrors and four inch glowing razor blades growing from underneath his fingernails.

"W...what the?" José stammered out. "What are you?"

Yusei snarled. "I should be asking you the same thing. How do you know about the Dark Signers?"

"Because one of them entered my world!" José answered, straining to push Yusei back with his umbrella.

"What did they look like?" Yusei hissed.

"Um, they teleported out of the sky with the glyph of a spider and was going to kill Daisy if Kaibaman didn't come in to-"

"HOW DARE YOU THROW MUD IN LADY KAMITSURE'S NAME!" Yusei yelled, sparks surrounding his razor blades. "She would _never_ kill an innocent!"

"His name was Tadashi Hamada!" José shouted back. "And he and his little brother and their red panda robot were searching for the Golden Atlas so they can enshroud other worlds in darkness!"

At that, Yusei paused. José winced as he saw the black spiky haired man close his eyes.

Haruka and Masato stretched their hands out, a red fiery circle and a large cyan snowflake hovering over them, respectively. Yugo's eyes begin to glow blue as they waited for Yusei's reaction. Ten seconds later, Yusei opened his eyes once more, but they were still black as night.

"Where are your other friends at this hour, José Carioca?" he asked.

"I...I have no idea," José answered, looking around.

"Then we have to find them," Yusei said. "Because I want a word with _all_ of you about why Seto Kaiba is asking you to stop these other 'Dark Signers'."

"Sure, but first, quick question. Since you mentioned this 'Lady Kamitsure' as a Dark Signer, and Dark Signers are beings who died and came back to life, does that mean that you are...um…" José gulped. "...dead?"

Yusei nodded his head as he brought a pointer finger to his neck. "Would you like to see a demonstration?"

"Actually, no. I don't think I would…"

José paused when he saw Yusei slit his throat with a blade, causing Haruka, Masato and Yugo to gasp in horror and the Cloth Dolls to mew and cover their eyes. Meanwhile, Yusei just smirked even though there was a gaping hole in his neck.

"...Satisfied?" he asked.

José's answer was to have his beak drop before he fainted in Haruka's arms.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Seriously?" asked Serena. "You encountered Haruka and Masato's dead grandmother _and_ your future grandson?"

"I know, it's kinda hard to believe," Kanata answered back on her phone. She and Yuri were at the Thousand Pieces food truck, waiting for customers to arrive. She sighed as she watched Jester Eiji drinking a cup of hot cocoa. "But after everything we've gone through, this was gonna happen eventually."

"This Ren guy could be dangerous," said Millefeui. "You remember what Haruka said about Yuri, right?"

"Well it turns out Haruka jumped the gun. It's kinda complicated, but even if Haruka knew why Yuri was trying to 'reunite' with Yugo, she probably would have reacted the same way."

"I don't blame her," Serena said, folding her arms. "So, now that this thing with Winter LIly has been resolved, what else do you have in store today?"

"Nothing much," said Kanata, moving her phone so it showed Jester Eiji and Yuri. "But basically we're waiting for this little doll's 'bosses' to arrive here. Come on, Yuri. Say hi."

Yuri turned to see Millefeui and Serena staring back, Millefeui having indigo hair and pink eyes similar to his own and Serena wearing a blue jacket and red baseball cap. Yuri reached out for the violet pendulum hanging over his heart as he felt as if he was Alice falling down the Rabbit Hole.

"It's...it's good to see you again, Millefeui," he whispered.

Millefeui smiled back. "I take it that Kanata finally took you to Wonderland like she promised, huh?"

Yuri stared at Kanata and, for a moment, a smile formed on his face. "She did."

"So? What did you think of it? Was it exactly like Kanata said it would be? Did you have a Mad tea party? Or participate in a Caucus Race? Ooh, I bet you helped some kids paint the roses red-"

"Hey, calm down sis," said Kanata, a blush appearing on her face. "He's still trying to get adjusted after last night."

"You gotta tell us what happened when we come back," said Serena, a wide grin on her face. "Millefeui and I are heading off to the card shop to get Millefeui a new deck.."

"Really?" asked Kanata. "Nee-san, you never _ever_ wanted to change decks at all. You know how that deck is important to you."

"Last night's duel had me thinking of using a new technique," Millefeui explained. "I love my Madolche cards, but I decided I need to up my game now that we know that stuff's going down in Paradise."

"She wants to use a Spirit deck," Serena added. "And there's been rumors going on about this new Winged-Beast archetype that's been released. We'll send pics."

"Can't wait!" Kanata looked out and noticed two people approaching the food truck. "Oh! I think mom's special guests are here! Gotta go!"

"Take care, sis," said Millefeui before ending the call.

Kanata sighed as she pocketed her phone, noticing how peculiar the two people looked. One was a woman who wore a white tunic with golden trim and had a golden book strapped to her back. The other was a white duck who wore a blue shirt, but no pants, and a sailor cap who also had a Duel Disk that looked like it was constructed out of a sapphire.

"Hey, Jester Eiji," said Kanata, watching Jester Eiji shake a bottle of whipped cream. "You said that your bosses are the ones with a hat and a book, right?"

"That I did," Jester Eiji nodded, pointing the nozzle of the whipped cream toward his cup.

"Great, that's all I need to know. Gotta get them ready for mom's surprise!"

"Wait, Kanata I don't think-" Yuri was interrupted with Kanata hopping out of the food truck, slamming the door hard enough for Jester Eiji to lose aim of the nozzle and instead spray the whipped cream all over the purple-haired boy. Seconds later, Jester Eiji set the whipped cream bottle down and picked up a napkin.

"Whoops," he said with a smirk.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So, girls," said Xandra, lifting the silver hand mirror to her face. "How's the search going?"

"Not so good," April answered, stacking some books. "But, we did find something interesting."

"Like what?"

"These absolutely awesome bracelets!" April squealed, showing off the one on her left wrist. It was made of silver and showed a head shaped like the head of a peacock in the middle with a green orb inset as the bird's eye. "We all got one and you won't believe what they do. Watch!"

April waved her hand over the bracelet. Then, with a bright green light, the bracelet expanded into the shape of a Duel Disk modeled after the bracelet. Donald and Xandra looked in awe as April drew cards from the deck inserted in it.

"These cards are the best!" April exclaimed. "May, June and Aunt Daisy also have their own bracelets and decks too! We're totally gonna be able to help you guys out now."

"Once we get this all cleaned up," May noted, sweeping the floor of any spilled pottery shards. On her left wrist was a silver bracelet with a blue orb in the center. "Hopefully we can do this before Miss Eugenia comes knocking on our door."

"Don't worry, girls," said Donald. "We're the Three Caballeros! We saved the world once, we can do it again!" He nodded his head. "After what happened with Lord Felldrake, nothing can scare us now."

"HI THERE!"

Donald screamed when he saw a girl slam her hands on the table they were sitting at, a big grin on her face. She had short purple hair held back with a black Alice headband, and wore a sky blue dress with a white pinafore, black and white striped leggings and black dress shoes. Strapped to her left arm was a Duel Disk with an interesting design; the tray looked similar to a crescent with the image of a rabbit on its surface. The deck holder/lifepoint counter had four different colors on it; clockwise it was black, blue, red and white and the images of different animals on it too (turtle, dragon, bird and tiger).

"We'll call you back," said Xandra to the mirror before she pocketed in the satchel she carried nowadays. "Um, who are you supposed to be?"

"Who, me?" said the girl. "Why, I'm Kanata Sakamoto, and welcome to the Thousand Pieces Café! So, how can I help you?"

"Um, hello there, Kanata," said Xandra. "I am Xandra, Goddess of Adventure and my partner here is Donald Duck."

"Donald...Duck?" asked Kanata, staring at the duck who was taking a deep breath into a paper bag. "That's...that's….That is absolutely not possible!"

Kanata started laughing, clutching her sides as she added, "Why would _Donald Duck_ decide to come here of all places? I mean, Tokyo Disneyland is just a few hours away."

"Huh?" asked Donald. "I just wanted to get something to eat! Haven't eaten anything since this morning…"

"This...this is just hysterical," Kanata continued. "One of Jester Eiji's bosses is _Donald Duck_! Okay, now I've seen everything." She turned to Yuri hastily wiping whipped cream off his face. "Hey, check it out! Donald Duck is here!"

"What?" asked Yuri, dropping the washcloth over Jester Eiji. "This must be some crazy joke."

"I wish I was joking," said Kanata. "But man, this is so crazy! So crazy, in fact, that I think we should celebrate this with a duel!"

"A duel?!" Donald and Xandra shouted. Yuri just placed a hand on his forehead as Jester Eiji pulled the cloth off of him.

"These two aren't your bosses, are they?" Yuri asked the doll. Jester Eiji smirked.

"Of course they aren't," he chuckled. "But don't tell her that."

Yuri returned the smirk with one of his own as he poured himself a cup of hot cocoa. Meanwhile, Kanata practically hopped to one side of the food truck and activated her Duel Disk. Donald clumsily activated his Duel Disk, fiddling with it until the tray hit him in the face before he rubbed his beak in annoyance.

"All right, Donald!" said Kanata, drawing her cards. "Gong Yi Tanpai!"

When everyone stared at her, she sighed. "It means 'Let the showdown begin!'"

"Um…" said Donald, drawing his cards. "It's...time to duel?"

Kanata shrugged. "An oldie, but a goodie. Okay then, let the duel begin!"

 **(Kanata: 8000) - - - - - - - (Donald: 8000)**

"Here, I'll go first," said Kanata, drawing a card. "And I'll play it simple by summoning Zoodiac Ratpier in Attack Mode!"

A magic circle appeared on Kanata's side of the field before an armored figure emerged in burst of fog. Donald expected the worst, only to then find the figure slice through the fog with a thin rapier in its left hand, covered by an oversized gauntlet. The monster was a petite girl combined with the features of a rat: she had tan brown hairs and blond hair and a thin tail. She wore silver armor and a long blue cape. Donald also noticed that the hilt of the monster's rapier looked like a blue rat. (0 ATK)

"Hey there Thea," said Kanata, kneeling down to the Beast-Warrior. "You ready for an epic battle today?"

And to the surprise of everyone, Zoodiac Ratpier twitched her ears and turned to Kanata. " _You know me, love! I'm always ready for adventure alongside my sisters!"_

"HUH?!" Donald gasped. "She...she can talk?!"

"Yeah, I was sort of shocked too after I returned from Wonderland last month," Kanata answered. "I was amazed that Wonderland allowed them to talk in the first place, but the fact that they can _retain_ the ability to speak shocked me when she woke me up the morning after the kerfuffle that was -"

"Duel first, backstory later!" Yuri interrupted, topping his hot cocoa with some peppermint marshmallows.

"Right, sorry," said Kanata. "Now, when Zoodiac Ratpier is Normal Summoned, I can send a 'Zoodiac' monster from my deck to directly to the graveyard, like so."

A card popped out of Kanata's Duel Disk which she slipped into the graveyard.

"And next, I play my Spell Card, Solidarity!"

A Continuous Spell Card appeared behind Zoodiac Ratpier, depicting the five Ojama Brothers (Yellow, Green, Black, Red and Blue) holding hands around a grave where a single card lay.

"When I have exactly one type of monster in my graveyard, all monsters that I control with that matching type gain 800 Attack Points!" Kanata explained. "All 'Zoodiac' monsters are Beast-Warrior types and so are all the other monsters in my deck. That means…"

Zoodiac Ratpier laughed as power washed over her. (0 -) 800 ATK)

"And I end it with a face-down card," said Kanata, slipping a card into her Duel Disk. "Your turn, Donald."

"Um, right!" said Donald, drawing a card. He then looked at his hand, trying to look as his cards as Xandra frowned.

 _Donald's not usually one for long-term thinking._ She thought to herself. _He's more of a "Strike first, ask questions later" type of guy. I wonder...what type of deck did Blazebeak even give him?_

"For my first move," Donald began. "I summon...Gagaga Magician in Attack Mode!"

Donald's monster descended onto the field. It looked similar to Dark Magician, but there were many obvious differences. For one, instead of the purple armor that Dark Magician was well known for, this magician wore a black leather robe with orange trim. Their hair was white instead of purple, which covered his right eye, and he also wore a long red scarf that covered the lower half of his face. He wore a set of three shoulder pads stacked on top of one another like bowls, a long chain that wrapped around his body and a golden belt with three diamonds shining on it. (1500 ATK)

 _Gagaga monsters?_ Kanata thought. _Ooh, please tell me that he doesn't have powerful Xyz Monsters in the Extra Deck…_

"And now," Donald continued. "Since I have a 'Gagaga' monster on the field, I can Special Summon Gagaga Clerk from my hand!"

With a giggle, the newest Gagaga monster appeared. She wore a blue blouse, a grey two-layered skirt, long white leggings and dark blue boots. Draped over her body was a white cape with a collar and with detached sleeves with green cuffs and white gloves. Her pink hair was set into long pigtails that fell to her feet and decorated with green leaves. In her hands was a maroon book that she close shut. (800 DEF)

"And that's not all," Donald chuckled. "Now I play Inferno Reckless Summon so I can Special Summon two more Gagaga Clerks!"

The first Gagaga Clerk winked before she spun around and two more copies appeared on her left and right. (800 DEF x2)

"Don't forget that Inferno Reckless Summon also works on me," said Kanata. "So I'll use it to Special Summon two more copies of Zoodiac Ratpier!"

She whistled and two more Zoodiac Ratpiers appeared, pointing their weapons at Donald. (0 -) 800 ATK x2)

"So," said Kanata. "What type of monster are you Xyz Summoning?"

"Huh?" Donald blinked.

"Gagaga monsters are well known for being able to manipulate their levels to make it easier bring out Xyz monsters," Yuri explained. "Gagaga Magician can manipulate its level to be whatever it wants, and you also have three Level 2 monsters. Don't tell me you just started dueling?"

"No I didn't!" Donald snapped, angrily shaking his fist. "I'm just trying to decide with monster to summon!"

"Then do it before we die of boredom," Yuri noted.

Donald growled as he stared at his Extra Deck on his Duel Disk. Then, he said, "I unleash the, uh...what was that called again?"

"Overlay Network?" said Kanata.

"Yes, Overlay Network!" said Donald. "And I'll use two of my Gagaga Clerks for this!"

A black portal emerged in front of Donald as two Gagaga Clerks leapt into it. At this, Donald pointed to the sky.

" _Great monster made of stone, come to me! Make the enemy tremble in fear. Xyz Summon! Rank 2! Gachi Gachi Gantestsu!"_

With a loud roar, a massive muscular grey ogre leapt onto the field before slamming down and causing the ground to shake. It wore strange metal spiked straps all across his body and red tattered shorts. On its left hand was a brown metal gauntlet surrounded by two purple orbs. (1800 DEF)

"Never seen that one before," said Kanata. "What does he do?"

"Well," said Donald, looking at the card. "He gives all monsters I control 200 attack and defense points for every Overlay Unit he has. And if he is destroyed, I can detach a Overlay Unit instead."

Gachi Gachi Gatestsu roared and pounded his fists on the ground as Donald's monsters began to glow. (Gagaga Magician: 1500/1000 -) 1900/1400, Gagaga Clerk: 400/800 -) 800/1200, Gachi Gachi Gantetsu: 500/1800 -) 900/2300)

"And now I attack!" Donald pointed to one of the Zoodiac Ratpiers. "Go, Gagaga Magician!"

Gagaga Magician jumped towards the middle Zoodiac Ratpier, ready to punch the poor monster out of the field.

"Not so fast," said Kanata. "I activate Defense Draw!"

Her face-down card lifted as a barrier appeared just as Gagaga Magician's fist was an inch away from Zoodiac Ratpier. The Beast-Warrior sighed and was consoled by her sisters as Kanata drew her card.

"Aw, phooey," Donald muttered. "I end it with a face-down card."

"And that means it's my turn," said Kanata, drawing a card. She smiled at what she drew. "And now I activate my Spell Card, Spiritual Forest!"

She slipped a new card into her Duel Disk, a Continuous Spell Card depicting large trees glowing multiple colors. Then, a grove of these trees sprouted from the ground and filled Kanata's side of the field with ethereal light.

"This card is good for all Winged-Beast, Beast and Beast-Warrior monsters I have," Kanata explained. "But what it actually does, we'll get to that later.

"Oh and, just so you know, Zoodiac monsters are well versed in the art of Xyz Summoning."

"Really?" asked Xandra.

"Mm-hmm! And for this one, I need at least 3 Level 4 monsters for this to work! So come on Thea, Pamela and Colette! Let's go!"

The Zoodiac Ratpier monsters nodded their heads and eagerly leapt into a portal as Kanata prepared her chant.

" _Tiger, tiger burning bright, arm the cannons and release your jungle fury now! Xyz Summon!_

 _Rank 4! Roar, Zoodiac Tigermortar!"_

An explosion from a cannon filled the air as the newest monster appeared. It was a young girl wearing a blue and silver silk top, black shorts that ended with blue and silver kneepads and a large metal gauntlet on her left hand that prevented her from falling over. Her hair was bright orange with her sideburns having black highlights to resemble stripes. She also had a pair of tiger ears and a long tail. She sat on top of an enormous orange cannon with blue and orange wheels and a tiger figurine on top. Three white orbs marked with the Chinese character for 'Rat' circled the cannon. (?/?)

"Wait a second," said Donald. "What's with her stats?"

"Oh, that," said Kanata. "Well that's because Blake's attack and defense points are equal to the attack and defense of the Overlay Units I used to Summon her."

"Each of your monsters had 800 attack points and 0 defense points," said Xandra. "So that means that Tigermortar now has 2400 attack points."

"And don't forget that Solidarity is still in play," Kanata added. "Guess what that means?"

Zoodiac Tigermortar roared as power washed over her. She bared her teeth into a hungry grin as Donald gulped. (?/? -) 2400/0 -) 3200/0)

"But don't fret, Mr. Duck. I'm not gonna attack yet," said Kanata. "I remove one of Tigermortar's Overlay Units to take a 'Zoodiac' monster in my graveyard and attach it to Tigermortar as Xyz Material!"

"Wait, how did you…" Xandra paused. "The monster that was sent there when you activated Zoodiac Ratpier's effect!"

"Right-a-rooney!" said Kanata. "So, Zoodiac Bunnyblast, you're up!"

Zoodiac Tigermortar sliced one of the Xyz Materials above its head before the spectral image of a new Zoodiac Monster appeared by her side. This one had long pink hair that was braided into two pigtails and two rabbit ears the same color as her hair. She wore a white and green dress with pink fur trim and white boots. In her right hand (covered by a large bronze gauntlet) was large blue and white blunderbuss topped with a blue rabbit figurine. She winked at Donald before she turned into a white orb marked with the Chinese character for 'Rabbit' and circled Zoodiac Tigermortar (3200/0 -) 2400/0 -) 3200/800)

"All right then!" said Kanata. "Zoodiac Tigermortar, attack Gagaga Magician with Burning Bright Big Bang!"

 _"Roger!"_ said Tigermortar as she struck a match on the cannon's surface and lit the wick behind her. _"3...2...1…"_

A loud explosion rocketed through the field as a blast of orange energy speeded toward Gagaga Magician.

"Not so fast!" said Donald. "I play...Gagaga Guard!"

Donald's face-down card lifted, revealing Gagaga Magician and a young girl with a striking resemblance to Dark Magician girl guarded by a barrier that looked like the symbol of the Gagaga monsters.

"Since I had two 'Gagaga' monsters on the field, neither of my monsters can be destroyed in battle or card effects," said Donald.

"But you still take some damage," Kanata noted.

The attack struck Gagaga Magician head-on, the magician panting for breath as Tigermortar scowled.

 **(Kanata: 8000) - - - - - - - (Donald: 6700)**

"And I'm gonna have to end it there," said Kanata. "Back to you, then."

"Hmph," said Donald, drawing his card. "I Equip Gagaga Clerk with Wonder Wand!"

A Spell Card of a scepter topped with a green orb appeared. Then, a similar wand was held in Gagaga Clerk's hand. (800/1200 -) 1300/1700)

"This card gives Gagaga Clerk an additional 500 attack and defense points, but I'll offer both of them up to draw two cards!"

Gagaga Clerk bowed as she vanished from the field and Donald drew two cards. Then, he jumped for joy at what he drew.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" he shouted. "I play Gagagabolt to destroy your Zoodiac Tigermortar!"

A Spell Card revealing Gagaga Magician struck by lighting appeared. Then Gagaga Magician raised his hand into the air as a thundercloud appeared above Zoodiac Tigermortar.

"Oh Donald," said Kanata. "You should've paid more attention to my monsters."

"Huh?" said Donald.

"Zoodiac Monsters have special effects if they become an Overlay Unit to an Xyz Monster. For Zoodiac Bunnyblast, if she became an Overlay Unit, then I can detach an Overlay Unit to the Xyz Monster she's a unit for, negate a Spell Card or effect that targets it and your lightning bolt fizzles out."

"...Huh?" asked Donald, tilting his head.

Kanata sighed as she detached Zoodiac Bunnyblast. "Gagagabolt fails and Zoodiac Tigermortar is still standing."

Zoodiac Tigermortar swiped one of the orbs (3200/800 -) 2400/0) as Gagagabolt disappeared in a puff of smoke. Donald was left speechless.

"Ah...wha…." he stammered out.

Kanata chuckled. "Sorry about how that little bolt from the blue failed."

"Grrr…." Donald growled. "I'm not done! Now I summon my other card, Gagaga Girl!"

At that, Kanata cringed. Appearing next to Gagaga Magician was a young girl with blond hair that looked similar to that of Dark Magician Girl. However, she wore armor similar to that of Gagaga Magician with a large pink skirt with an equally sized bow on her left hip, she had trails of magenta ribbons in contrast to Gagaga Magician's chain, and she carried a cellphone in her left hand that had three skulls as charms. (1000/800 -) 1400/1200)

"I choose to keep Gagaga Magician's level at it is," said Donald. "And Gagaga Girl's level can become the same as his!"

Gagaga Girl wordlessly pulled out her cellphone and punched in a number (0-0-4) before a '4' appeared above her head. (LV: 3 -) 4)

"And now, I unleash the Overlay Network once more!"

Another vortex appeared in front of Donald as both Gagaga Magician and Gagaga Girl leapt into it."

" _Noble warrior from the Land of the Rising Sun! Bring your virtues of honor and righteousness here! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Get back, Gagaga Samurai!"_

Rising from the vortex was a warrior with long black hair held into a ponytail and wielding two katanas in hand. He wore tan pants, a red shirt and a long orange scarf that covered his mouth. A glove covered his left hand while two purple orbs circled his body. (1900/1600 -) 2300/2000)

"And that's not all," Donald snickered. "Since Gagaga Girl was used in an Xyz Summon alongside Gagaga Magician, I can now choose a Special Summoned monster you control and drop its attack to 0!"

The spirit of Gagaga Girl briefly appeared before she took a snapshot of Zoodiac Tigermortar on her cellphone and punched a few numbers. Zoodiac Tigermortar groaned. (2400 -) 0 ATK)

"And that's not all," said Donald. "Now, I remove an Overlay Unit from Gagaga Samurai so he can attack twice this turn!"

Gagaga Samurai sliced one of the orbs in front of him before unleashing a smirk.

"Go!" said Donald. "Attack!"

Gagaga Samurai rushed towards Zoodiac Tigermortar, who clung onto her cannon with all her might as Zoodiac Samurai unleashed two diagonal slashes at her. But despite the attacks, Zoodiac Tigermortar was still standing.

"Huh?" said Donald. "Shouldn't she have been destroyed?"

 **(Kanata: 3400) - - - - - - - (Donald: 6700)**

"Normally that would be the case," said Kanata. "However, did you forget about my Spiritual Forest? It prevents the first Winged-Beast, Beast or Beast-Warrior monster that is destroyed in battle from being destroyed. I will give you credit for giving me what were essentially two direct attacks, though."

"I guess I end my turn at that," Donald muttered.

"And I'll start mine," said Kanata. "Hold onto your hat, Mr. Duck! We've only just begun!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Riley? You doing okay?"

Riley looked up and saw her partner set a tray stacked with sandwiches in front of them. She sighed. Ever since she "returned", she hadn't been able to eat anything like she used to..

While that was good for whenever she and her "family" decided to have broccoli - which she detests - it made it hard for her to digest anything without feeling sick to her stomach. The first time she decided to have a slice of pizza, she ended up spitting it out in disgust.

And when she learned what her new "diet" was going to be, she ended up hiding in her room for three days, not wanting to talk to anyone about her cravings. Only Hiro was able to coerce her out of it, and only because he had Baymax punch a hole into her room in order to get in.

"I feel a bit better," Riley answered, looking all around her. She watched children with their parents having lunch and taking photos without a care in the world. "It feels nice getting out here. You know, I used to have picnics and make lots of sandwiches with mom and...dad…"

The other figure sat down next to Riley and hugged her gently, almost as if Riley would collapse if hugged tighter. Riley began to sob, not wanting to recall her big idea of how returning to Minnesota ended with her run over by a car when she decided she wanted to be back in her parents' loving arms.

"There, there," said the other figure. "It's all right. Once we finish our mission, you'll be back with your parents like nothing ever happened. You'll never have to feel sad ever again."

Riley sniffled. All this time she was happy so that her parents didn't have to feel so worried about her, especially with this big move from Minnesota to San Francisco and leaving everything and everyone that she knew and loved...

And in the end, bottling this sadness was what caused her to be here right now.

"Are you sure, Anna?" Riley whispered, placing her head on her partner's shoulder.

Anna smiled back. "I'm sure. Now come on, these sandwiches aren't gonna finish themselves…."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"So," said Jester Eiji, turning to Yuri. "Do you have a thing for her or something?"

"What?" Yuri asked, almost looking offended. "I do _not_ have a thing for Kanata!"

"Sure…." said Jester Eiji. "Listen Lily, I know exactly where you're coming from."

"Really now?" said Yuri, raising an eyebrow. "What do you know about me?"

"Underneath that facade of yours is someone crying out for love," Jester Eiji began, his voice calm. "You watch from the shadows as other children get love and adoration from others, questioning why you are not like them, and why you have to suffer. And then, your innocent world is twisted and warped into something horrible so that you never have to feel that sort of pain again, thinking that people should understand the hell you've gone through instead of you opening those wounds you bandaged up by hurting them.

"And you'd do anything, I repeat, _anything_ for someone to recognize you. It didn't matter what you did or what you had to do or if that person was a genocidal overlord. You did it because it was either that or living alone for the rest of your life."

At this, Yuri stayed silent. No one had ever said it like that before. How the hell did a _doll_ know all of this?

Jester Eiji nodded his head as he turned to Kanata. "I was like that too, until I found my bosses. Now I have so much fun! I should take you to my world some day; I bet you and the bosses can trade some wicked good ideas!."

Yuri had no idea how to respond as he watched Kanata play a card onto her Duel Disk.

"Time for a change of scenery," she said. "I play the Field Spell Card, Zodiac Sign!"

She played the card, revealing the images of three Zoodiac monsters underneath a starry sky with a dragon covered in a white aura shining above them. Above the heads of the Zoodiac monsters were three Chinese characters for 'Snake', 'Rat' and 'Horse', respectively.

"This Spell Card increases the attack and defense of all 'Zoodiac' monsters by 300 and while it's on the field, you must go into battle with the Beast-Warrior with the highest attack."

 _Genius!_ Xandra thought. _Since Zoodiac monsters gain their attack strength based on the Xyz Materials attached to them, that means Donald is going to lose lifepoints. And even if Donald had a monster strong enough to beat it, Kanata's Spiritual Forest would prevent her monster from being destroyed._

"And to continue," said Kanata. "I summon another Zoodiac monster. So come out and play, Zoodiac Whiptail!"

With a hiss, a new Beast-Warrior monster appeared. It was a tall, lanky male wearing a pair of glasses over his yellow eyes. He wore black and silver armor with green trim on the torso, and in the gauntlet on his left hand was a long whip with a snake-head cracker. (1200/400 -) 2300/700)

"Now it's time to give you another interesting tidbit about my Zoodiac monsters. Normally when it comes to Xyz Summoning, you need a specific amount of monsters.

"However, I can Xyz Summon a 'Zoodiac' Xyz monster if I just offer another 'Zoodiac' monster with a different name in its place."

"What?!" Donald exclaimed.

"Zoodiac Tigermortar, I offer you up for my next Xyz Monster!"

Tigermortar (0/0 -) 300/300) saluted before she leapt into the incoming portal and Kanata chanted,

" _Howl at the moon, Zodiac Warrior of the Canine! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Zoodiac Chakanine!"_

The newest monster leapt from the portal, wielding a large blue and green ring gripped onto a massive green gauntlet on the right hand. It was a girl in a pink dress and green leggins with blue kneepads. She had her long brown hair tied into a ponytail along with two pointed dog ears on top of her head. The warrior let out a playful bark as three orbs circled her body, two that has the Chinese character for 'Rat' and a third with the Chinese character for 'Tiger' (300/300 -) 1400/600)

" _Hachiko is ready for duty!"_ Zoodiac Chakanine stated, saluting Kanata.

"And I'm just about ready for fun," said Kanata. "But first, let's activate your special ability by detaching an Xyz Material from you and revive Zoodiac Bunnyblast!"

Zoodiac Chakanine sliced an orb labeled with 'Rat' as the pink-haired, gun-wielding bunny girl appeared once more. (800/800 -) 1900/1100)

"And next, it's time to activate one of Whiptail's special abilities. Go Zhora, help Hachiko out!"

Zoodiac Whiptail nodded his head before he flipped and transformed into a white orb with a black Chinese character for 'Snake'. The orb spun around Zoodiac Chakanine who howled loudly. (1400/600 -) 3700/1300)

"And now…" Kanata pointed at Donald. "Zoodiac Chakanine, attack Gachi Gachi Gantetsu!"

Zoodiac Chakanine spun round and round before throwing her chakram like it was a frisbee. Donald smirked.

"I'll just detach an Xyz Material from Gachi Gachi Gantetsu to prevent my monster from HUH?!"

The spirit of Zoodiac Whiptail appeared, lashing out his whip before dragging Gachi Gachi Gantetsu into the ground, leaving Gagaga Samurai as the only monster left.

"Ooh, I forgot to mention," said Kanata. "When Zoodiac Whiptail becomes an Xyz Material for an Xyz Monster, then any monster that engages in battle is Banished after Damage calculation. So sorry…"

"But that means…" Xandra noticed how Gagaga Samurai's stats dropped back to normal (2300/2100 -) 1900/1700)

"Go Zoodiac Bunnyblast!" said Kanata, watching the monster prepare her blunderbuss. "Attack with Rapid Rabbit Rampage!"

Zoodiac Bunnyblast cackled as she pointed her blunderbuss at the sweating samurai. With a grin on her face, she pulled the trigger and watched as a large bullet flew toward Gagaga Samurai.

"Wait a second!" said Donald, double checking the stats on his Duel Disk. "Both of these monsters have the same attack score!"

"But Spiritual Forest will prevent her from being destroyed," Kanata replied. "So that means…"

Gagaga Samurai groaned as the bullet struck his heart and he shattered, leaving his swords behind before they faded away.

"And I'm gonna end this with three cards face-down," said Kanata, slipping what is left of her hand into her Duel Disk. Now come on, Donald...don't keep me waiting."

"Stupid monsters and their effects," Donald muttered, drawing his card. He stared at the card before a large grin appeared on his face. "I play the Spell Card, Gagagadraw!"

Donald played the Spell Card, depicting three Gagaga monsters - Gagaga Girl, Gagaga Clark and a third one with blue hair in a white suit) - with two of those monsters holding cards.

"Now I Banish three 'Gagaga' monsters to draw two cards," said Donald, taking the Gagaga Clerks out of his graveyard and pocketing them. He then draw two cards. Then, he was jumping for joy.

"Oh boy, oh boy!" he shouted. "I hit the jackpot!"

"How so?" asked Kanata.

"Since I have no monsters on the field, and you control one, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand! Go Gagaga Head!"

In a burst of wind, the newest monster appeared. He had tan skin and blond bangs that covered his right eye and a cyan scarf covering his mouth. His armor was a bright indigo color with cyan orbs inset on the hat and shoulders of his long cape. His hands were covered with black fingerless gloves and silver metal cuffs. He wore no shirt, but instead had indigo pants with flames at the hem and a belt that showed the Gagaga symbol held by four chains. A single white wing sprouted from his left shoulder. (2100 ATK)

"And when he's summoned, I can summon two 'Gagaga' monsters from my graveyard. Guess who's back?"

Gagaga Head clapped his hands and then spread them out. Appearing on his left and right were Gagaga Magician (1500 ATK) and Gagaga Girl. (1000 ATK)

"And now, it's time to Xyz Summon once again!"

The Overlay Network emerged as Gagaga Head and Gagaga Girl leapt into it.

" _Warrior of the Wild West who rides off into the sunset! Our showdown begins right now! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Go, Gagaga Cowboy!"_

Rising from the portal was a man wearing a brown Stetson, a white shirt with a yellow jacket on top of it, and brown pants decorated with black orbs. He wore a red tattered cape and on his wrists were green and black gauntlets. He pulled out something from his holsters, a pair of lime green pistols. (1500 ATK)

"When Gagaga Head is used as Xyz Material for a 'Gagaga' Xyz Monster, I get to draw a card!" said Donald, drawing a new card. "And you remembered what Gagaga Girl does! I reduce the attack of Zoodiac Bunnyblast to 0!"

Bunnyblast groaned as she felt all of her strength leaving her. (1900 -) 0 ATK)

"HUH?!" asked Yuri. "Have you gone mad? Zoodiac Chakanine's the bigger threat!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Donald snapped. "And next, I play Gagaga Sister in Attack Mode!"

With a girlish giggle, the newest Gagaga monster appeared. It was a girl who couldn't be older than 5, with short blond hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a cone-shaped hat colored white with magenta trim and a rose. Her outfit was a black blouse with a cream two-layered skirt with a large magenta bow tied to her right hip, ending in black boots accessorized with skulls and magenta ribbons. She wore a tiered cream cape lined with black at the end and her weapon was a large golden key. (200 ATK)

"She's so cute!" Kanata cooed. _She kinda reminds me of me…_ She thought. And in her mind, she could see a younger version of herself and Millefeui making cookies alongside their mother.

"And she's powerful!" Donald added. "I choose one 'Gagaga' monster I control and then I combine their levels! The combined score becomes their levels for this turn."

"Wait a second," said Kanata. "That means you can have 2 monsters whose levels can be anywhere from 3 to 10! Aren't you gonna change Gagaga Magician's level for this?"

Donald shook his head. "His is the perfect level I need for this trick."

 _I don't like the sound of that..._ Kanata thought as Gagaga Sister waved her key in the air as if it was a magic wand. Then, four stars above Gagaga Magician's head and two above her own head spun round and round and then split into twelve stars. Six went to Gagaga Magician and the other six went to Gagaga Sister.

"And it's time for another Xyz Summon!"

"But not before I play my first face-down card, Gift of the Mystical Elf!" said Kanata.

Kanata's first card flipped, revealing Mystical Elf surrounded by a multitude of glowing orbs. The image of Mystical Elf appeared, chanting something under her breath as Kanata felt her lifepoints replenish.

 **(Kanata: 4900) - - - - - - - (Donald: 6700)**

Then, _another_ portal emerged before Gagaga Magician took Gagaga Sister's hand into his own. They nodded their heads then leapt into the portal together.

" _Brave robot, unleash your mechanized might on my opponent! Xyz Summon! Rank 6! Go, Gauntlet Launcher!"_

A massive red and black robot dropped from the sky. It cracked the knuckles of its left hand as it eyed Kanata's two monsters while two purple orbs circled its hands. (2400 ATK)

"Oh no…" Kanata groaned.

"Now I detach an Overlay Unit from Gauntlet Launcher to destroy Zoodiac Chakanine!" said Donald, taking a card from underneath Gauntlet Launcher and slipping it into his graveyard.

Gauntlet Launcher lifted his left arm at Zoodiac Chakanine as one of its Overlay Units vanished. Then, a massive silver fist slugged straight into Zoodiac Chakanine's gut, hurling her to the graveyard.

"But even if you destroy Chakanine, I'm still left standing," said Kanata.

"Really now?" asked Donald, showing a card to Kanata. "Even if I do this?!"

Donald's Mystical Space Typhoon activated, tearing Kanata's Spiritual Forest apart, and causing Zoodiac Bunnyblast to gulp.

"Now my monsters!" said Donald, pointing to Zoodiac Bunnyblast. "Get her!"

Zoodiac Bunnyblast screamed in terror as Gagaga Cowboy fired a few bullets with his guns. One hit Zoodiac Bunnyblast right between the eyes and she shattered instantly.

 **(Kanata: 3500) - - - - - - - (Donald: 6700)**

"You may have destroyed her, but Bunnyblast gives me a gift," said Kanata, taking a card from her graveyard into her hand. "When she's destroyed, I get to take a 'Zoodiac' monster from my graveyard into my hand.

"But it won't save you from him!" said Donald, pointing to Gauntlet Launcher's card. "ATTACK!"

Gauntlet Launcher fired his right fist, hitting Kanata straight in the gut and having the girl drop to her knees.

 **(Kanata: 1000) - - - - - - - (Donald: 6700)**

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Donald cackled. "I've got you on the ropes now!"

"Not yet you don't," said Kanata, standing up and dusting off her skirt. "Because I activate my face-down card, Shock Draw!"

Her face-down card lifted and she quickly drew three more cards.

"You done?" she asked.

"Pretty much," Donald said with a nod of his head.

"Well don't get too cocky. I draw!"

Kanata drew her card, then smirked.

"First off, I'm gonna make sure that you can't destroy any more of my monsters. I play...Space Cyclone!"

A Quick-Play Spell Card appeared, depicting a large purple cyclone in outer space.

"This little beauty's helped me out whenever my sister has Queen Tiaramisu on the field," Kanata explained. "Because this lets me detach an Overlay Unit from any Xyz Monster on the field...like the one on your Gauntlet Launcher!"

"WHAT?!" Donald exclaimed.

A large purple cyclone wrapped around Gauntlet Launcher, the robot groaning in pain before its Overlay Unit vanished.

"Uh oh," Donald muttered.

"And next, I activate my face-down card Back to the Front to bring Zoodiac Bunnyblast into battle once more!" said Kanata.

Kanata's final face-down card lifted and Zoodiac Bunnyblast appeared, kneeling in Defense Mode. (800/800 -) 1900/1100)

"And it's time to bring back Zoodiac Whiptail for a bit of fun!"

Zoodiac Whiptail emerged next to the defending pink rabbit girl, cracking his whip. (1200/400 -) 2300/700)

"And now, it's time I play the card that will spell your doom. Go, Zoodiac Barrage!"

Kanata played a third card, this one depicting three Zoodiac Monsters - one being Zoodiac Bunnyblast with a grin on her face, one with a red bow and a bored expression on his face, and another who was screaming his head off. Then, Kanata's Zodiac Sign began to glow.

"Here's how Zoodiac Barrage works. I choose one face-up card I have, destroy it, then I get to Special Summon a 'Zoodiac' monster from my deck. So, hold your horses 'cause I'm bringing one for this here showdown!"

The night sky vanished as Zoodiac Bunnyblast and Whiptail sighed. (Zoodiac Bunnyblast: 1900/1100 -) 1600/800, Zoodiac Whiptail: 2300/700 -) 2000/400) Then, a new Zoodiac monster appeared, dressed in red armor with short chestnut hair ending in a long ponytail and matching equine ears. In a large silver gauntlet on his right hand, he wielded a large sword with the hilt being the head of a black horse. (1600 -) 2400 ATK)

"Of course when I summon Thoroughblade, I have to discard a 'Zoodiac' card and I can draw a card from this. But Thoroughblade was my last card, so too bad."

"And what type of monster are you summoning now?" asked Xandra.

Kanata smirked. "I'm glad you asked! All right Philip, Maxine, Zhora...into the Overlay Network you go!"

The trio nodded their heads and leapt into what was probably the last portal of the duel. Kanata brought her arms out.

" _Zodiac Warrior of the monkey, use your massive hammer to make the mountains tremble! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! It's on like Zoodiac Hammerkong!"_

A large white furred monkey leapt onto the field. It stood at eight feet tall and wore green and black armor with gold shoulder pads and black pants with bronze kneepads. He wore a necklace of black colored beads around his neck. Covering his left hand was a large bronze gauntlet, and his weapon was a massive white-colored hammer. (?/? -) 6000/1200 -) 6800/1200)

"Even with that monster, you still have to go through my monsters!" said Donald, noticing the smile on the large monkey's face.

Kanata smirked as Zoodiac Hammerkong shook his head. "I'm not gonna use Hammerkong to attack."

"Huh?"

"Zoodiac Hammerkong, unleash the Overlay Network one last time!"

Zoodiac Hammerkong slammed his massive hammer onto the ground as the final portal of the duel emerged. He then leapt into it like he was performing a cannonball at a pool as Kanata chanted.

" _Zodiac Warrior of the Boar, aim a bull's-eye directly at my opponent! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Take aim, Zoodiac Boarbow!"_

With a loud roar, a short figure appeared at Kanata's side. They had shaggy blond hair and two pointy ears and wore brown armor with red trim. Their left hand was covered by a bronze gauntlet with red trim with a large red bow in his hand. (6800/1200 -) 7600/1200)

"That monster has enough attack points to end the duel!" Xandra gasped.

"But I have two monsters on the field," said Donald. "And I can just use Gagaga Cowboy's ability to save myself. It's not like this monster can attack me _directly_ right?"

Kanata raised an eyebrow and shared a glance with Yuri before saying, "...Zoodiac Boarbow can attack directly."

Donald blinked. "What?!"

"You heard me!" said Kanata. "And speaking of Gagaga Cowboy, if you used his ability on the turn you reduced Zoodiac Bunnyblast's attack to 0, you would have won the duel when you added Gauntlet Launcher's direct attack on me. But no, you got too smug on the attack strength of your monsters to even _consider_ that, huh?"

"Then...that means..." Donald stammered as Zoodiac Boarbow notched a large arrow into his crimson bow. A big grin appeared on his face.

"It's time to say Gagaga _bye-bye_!" Kanata shouted.

Donald screamed in terror, running around in circles as Zoodiac Boarbow fired his arrow. And, to Donald's utter humiliation, the arrow struck his tail feathers, causing him to leap into the sky in agony before dropping down with a painful smack and the Gagaga symbol circling his head.

 **(Kanata: 1000) - - - - - - - (Donald: 0)**

"Well," said Kanata as the holograms disappeared. "That was a very fun duel, Mr. Duck!

Now I know what it feels like when my sister dueled that deck a month ago."

"Your sister dueled someone with the same deck as Donald?" asked Xandra.

"Well, it's not like _all_ cards are exclusive to a duelist," said Kanata, returning her cards into her deck. "But a deck that shares the same cards with another is sort of like recipes for cookies; they look the same, but the ingredients that construct it are different...or something on the lines of that." She looked around. "Now, mom was supposed to arrive to give you guys a special meal...I wonder what's taking her so long?"

"Sorry we're late! We got held up in traffic!"

"Huh?" Kanata turned around and saw two very peculiar people staring at her. One looked like a detective, wearing a white dress shirt with purple stripes, a black waistcoat, a red tie, black pants and matching shoes and a fedora topping his head of brown hair. The other wore a white shirt with orange stripes, jeans, and a long green vest. His hair was held back, of all things, binder clips. He was eagerly reading a book in his hand...a book that, for some odd reason, had nothing but blank pages.

But that wasn't what caused Kanata to look in fear. It was way they stared at her, the way they _smiled_ at her, the way that the one with the fedora immediately shook hands with her and it felt like it was made of wood.

"Um...hi there," said Kanata, suddenly pulling her hand back. "Can I help you out with something? Can I get your names at least?"

'Oh, pardon me," the one with the fedora said with a laugh. "The name is Shotaro and my partner here is Philip. Say hello, Philip!"

"Yo," Philip said, lifting his head and waving to Kanata before he returned to his book.

"Um, okay then…" Kanata looked at Yuri and Jester Eiji, the doll doing his best not to laugh by covering his mouth with his hands. "So, Yuri, can you help me get Donald and Xandra's orders while I seat these two down?"

Yuri took a glance at Jester Eiji before shrugging his shoulders and stepped out of the food truck, carrying the menus in his hand. As this happened, Xandra tilted her head at Shotaro and Philip.

"Excuse me," she said. "But, uh, just what are you?"

"What are we?" said Shotaro. "What are we?! Why, we are the two-in-one detective!" He removed his fedora and blew into it before placing it back onto his head. "A pleasure to meet you, miss…"

"Xandra, Goddess of Adventure," Xandra replied, taking Shotaro's hand into her own. She blinked as she felt the palm of Shotaro's hand. It felt like wood. "So, what brings you here?"

"That…" Shotaro said with a smile composed of sharp nails. "Is a secret! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Shotaro's grip on Xandra's hand tightened, causing the Goddess of Adventure to panic as she tried to pull herself away from this deranged wooden lunatic. With one final tug, she pulled herself away from him…

And at the same time, Shotaro's arm was ripped off of its socket. Everyone looked in alarm as Shotaro turned to the space where his arm used to be and said,

"Can I have my arm back?"

Xandra blinked before she looked at the arm still in her hand and, with a scream, tossed it back at Shotaro who just chuckled as he scooped it back up. He then inserted it back onto his shoulder with a quick 'pop' as he nudged Philip with his other elbow.

"Hey, Philip," he said. "How about we show these guys how we fight back in our world?"

Philip closed his book and pulled out a whiteboard marker out of one of his vest pockets. His green eyes sparkled with mad glee as he added, "I'd like that, Shotaro."

"What's going on?" Donald exclaimed, looking at Kanata and Yuri.

"I have absolutely no idea," Kanata answered, watching Philip uncap his marker. "But we better put a stop to this before mom finds her food truck completely trashed!"

Philip swiftly drew long lines in the air. Wherever he drew, a long streak of black followed his marker. After four or five of these, he pointed towards Yuri and Kanata, the lines making a beeline at them. The two dove toward a table, with one line briefly brushing against Kanata's Duel Disk, as Kanata kicked the table over to make a makeshift barricade.

"You can't hide there forever!" Philip cackled, pointing his lines towards a nervous Donald Duck. Donald was quickly tangled up and hung upside down before the lines started shaking him of anything he could carry.

"Unhand me you sick little…" Donald growled before his words dissolved into unsyllabic gibberish. As this was going on, Kanata gasped.

"Oh my God, I just realized something...those guys must be killer clowns that want to _eat us_!" she exclaimed.. She shuddered and ran her hands down her arms. "It's the _Nightmare Hour_ all over again!"

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Yuri, poking his head slightly but then ducking as Donald was thrown towards the table. Thankfully, Donald was much sturdier than expected and dove right back into the battle.

"Serena loves spooky stories and she read the short story 'Afraid of Clowns' from said book!" Kanata explained. "In that story, there were evil clowns that killed children by tickling them until they died laughing...and then they eat their corpses!

"What's worse, the protagonist of our story asks to be spared of that fate by being transformed into a clown and revels in how his first victim is none other than his girlfriend!"

"So...what you're saying is…" Yuri's eyes widened in fear as the table was tossed to the side by long black lines wrapped around it before it became nothing more than splinters and pieces of metal when it crashed just a few feet away from them. Both Kanata and Yuri gulped when both Shotaro and Philip smiled, exposing rows of nail-like teeth.

"Ahahahaha!" Shotaro cackled, eyes staring at the frightened kids. "We got you right where we want you!"

As he said that he spat out a nail just an inch away from the two. With trembling hands, Yuri picked it up and then subsequently dropped it.

"The...that was a real nail," he said, looking at Kanata. "They...they want to eat us!"

Kanata went for her Duel Disk, but blinked when she noticed a large black kanji on it. After a few seconds of remembering her Japanese lessons at school, she blinked.

"Seal?!" she said. "Did...did they just seal my Duel Disk?"

"That and more…" Philip chuckled as he drew several more lines that latched onto Kanata's arms and legs. He then mimed pulling a fish out of the water with a fishing rod as Kanata was lifted into the air and dragged over to him. "Now, what do we do with you?"

Kanata scowled as she struggled and kicked as much as she could (causing Yuri to blush as the more she struggled, the more her skirt lifted into the air) before Shotaro chuckled, spitting a nail to the ground as he thought of so many fun ways to play with the little girl.

But just before Shotaro could take a step forward, something pierced through his heart, causing him to stagger back before dropping to his knees. It was Xandra, preparing another golden arrow of light.

"Get away from her right now," Xandra snarled, watching as Donald struggled with the strange black ropes. But no matter how hard he pulled, they were as tough as ropes.

Shotaro looked down the hole in his chest. "Oh no," he said, laughing softly. "That's gonna leave a mark. Right, Philip? Philip?"

"You...you foul goddess!" Philip snarled, staring at Xandra with a look of murder in his eyes. "You _hurt my Shotaro_!"

"You were about to eat those kids!" Xandra shot back.

"I'm gonna do more to you for what you did," Philip growled, all playfulness in his eyes now gone. "No one hurts my Shotaro."

Using his pen like a conductor's baton, the ropes that wrapped around Kanata's arms and legs flew toward Xandra. Xandra rolled to the side and began firing three golden arrows at the lines, causing them to shrivel on contact. Philip snarled as he drew large crescent blades that zipped toward the Goddess, who flipped over them easily and instead sliced the bonds that held Kanata up. Before the purple haired girl hit the ground, Yuri caught her...and then subsequently dropped her onto the ground when he realized what he was doing.

"Thanks a lot," Kanata replied, standing up. Yuri didn't have time to fathom whether or not Kanata was being sarcastic.

Meanwhile, Xandra prepared her bow once more, drawing five arrows of golden light. "It'l take more that to stop me!" she taunted.

Philip chuckled as he drew long pointed lines in the air. "How about this?!"

One of these lines zoomed toward Xandra, who dodged it just in time. It landed just a few inches from Yuri and Kanata, lodged at the ground like a knife thrown toward a wall. Kanata ran a finger through it and winced before putting her finger into her mouth.

"Those are…" Xandra gasped as Philip drew hundreds of thin lines in the sky. "Oh no!"

These black inky needles fired in the air as Xandra braced herself by crossing her arms in front of her. Just as Donald pulled himself away from the ropes, a few of those needles hit him in the rump, causing Donald to squawk in agony and run around in circles all while Shotaro (and Jester Eiji) laughed at the chaos. Kanata and Yuri, in the meantime, ducked behind another table.

"That was perfect!" Shotaro exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Do it again, do it again!"

"Oh no you don't!"

From out of nowhere, someone knocked Shotaro in the head with a large metal thermos. Everyone looked to see a woman with auburn hair tied into a ponytail knock Shotaro in the head once more.

"I told you guys to be on your best behavior and look at what happens!" The woman exclaimed. "Oh, what am I going to do with you?"

"Mom!" Kanata shouted, sighing in relief. "Thank goodness you're here! These two have been giving us a hard time!"

"Which two?" asked Hanako, seeing Shotaro cackling while Philip fussed over the wound to his chest and Xandra helping Donald stand up.

"The ones that look like they want to eat us!" Yuri shouted. "Are you that blind?"

For that, Kanata tugged on his ear. Hanako, meanwhile, just approached the mannequins and smiled.

"Sorry I arrived late," she said. "But it takes a while to make a perfect brew of Blue Eyes Mountain Coffee. I hope my daughter and her friend didn't cause too much trouble."

"No, no," Shotaro laughed. "In fact, your daughter provided some good entertainment while we were waiting for you!" He then stood up and bowed towards Hanako before placing a kiss on the back of her hand. "I can't wait to have that delightful taste dance on my tongue once more."

"Hey, stay away from mom!" Kanata snapped, preparing her Duel Disk, the black kanji on it fading. "If you wanna eat us so bad, don't do it in front of her!"

"Eat you?" Phillip repeated. "Why would we want to eat you?"

"... isn't that what you were going to do?" asked Kanata, confused.

The two mannequins looked at each other, tilting their heads this way and that. Then, they snickered before they burst into loud, raucous laughter.

"Oh, silly little girl," Shotaro chuckled. " _We're_ your mother's guests today!"

"What?!"

"Huh?"

"You?!"

Hanako just giggled at the shocked looks on Xandra, Donald and Kanata's faces. "These two came to visit the Café in Wonderland while you were off exploring the real one with Millefeui last month, Kanata," she explained. "They said they came to check on their little brother today so I decided to make them a nice snack after all the traveling they had to do to get here!"

"Little brother?" asked Xandra, a bit wary as she recalled what Sen said earlier. "You don't mean…."

Hanako nodded her head. "He should be coming soon, and in the meantime, can you all help out while we get their order? I'm sure they must be _super_ hungry from their travels across the Nightmare Realm."

"Nightmare Realm?" Kanata repeated, looking at the mannequins. "Wait...they're from another world?"

"Mm-hmm! They have plenty of stories to tell, like the Holiday world and the time they made a circus, oh!" Hanako giggled. "We'll have plenty of time for that after we cook. Come along, Kanata, Yuri! Let's get ready."

And with that, Hanako practically skipped to the food truck, all while Kanata glared at the doll hopping down the food truck and running towards Shotaro and Philip.

"Boss, boss!" he cheered, the bells on his fool's cap jingling with each step. "You're here! You're here!"

Shotaro chuckled as the doll leapt into his arms. "Oh, Jester Eiji. It seems like you can't go anywhere without causing mischief, right?"

"I learned from the best!" Jester Eiji said, getting a pat on the head. Meanwhile, Kanata grit her teeth.

"Jester Eiji, those two are your bosses?" she asked testily.

"Yep!" Jester Eiji answered. "And don't say that you didn't ask or anything. After all, _you_ were the one who jumped to the Island of Conclusions!"

"He makes a good point," Yuri muttered, cringing when Kanata stepped on his foot. The purple-haired girl drew a card from her Duel Disk, her left eye twitching..

"I see," she said. "Hey, Jester Eiji. Do me a favor."

"Yes, Alice?"

Kanata smirked as the card in her hand began to glow. Then, her right hand became covered by a bronze gauntlet and a white and blue blunderbuss appeared in front of her.

"Why don't you and your bosses stay still so I can love and tolerate the _shit out of all of you_!" she said, pointing her weapon at the three.

"Wait, Kanata!" said Yuri, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't be doing this! At least…" he chuckled as he drew a card from his deck. "Not without some assistance!"

And as Yuri played a few cards onto his Duel Disk, Jester Eiji, Shotaro and Philip nervously looked at each other.

"This...this won't end well," Philip noted.

"What was your first clue?" asked Shotaro.

And seconds later, the three were fleeing from the girl with the blunderbuss and Yuri's various

plant-type monsters as Hanako handed Xandra and Donald some sandwiches.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Excuse me? _Senhor_ Yusei? Are you... _dead_ dead?"

After José woke up from his fainting spell, he noticed how Yusei was sleeping against the wall, arms across his chest. No matter what José did, nothing could shake Yusei awake. The wound on Yusei's neck had magically healed itself, but it made José think about that time he and the other Caballeros wound up in the Underworld. Just what happened to Yusei to have died and become what he was right now?

On second thought, it was probably better not to ask.

"Don't bother waking him up," said Haruka, feeding her Cloth Dolls some macarons. "An April Witch like him needs total concentration for this."

"A what?" José asked, question marks floating over his head.

"When he closes his eyes, he can transport his mind into different bodies," Masato explained, reading an article on _Chasing Shadows_ through his phone. "So I think he's doing it in order to find where your other friends are. Good thing too; Kaibaland is pretty big."

"I found them!" Yusei shouted, leaning forward.

"Where?" asked Yugo, preparing his Duel Disk.

"By the shooting galleries. And we should hurry."

"Why's that?" asked José.

Yusei smiled as his clothes darkened into the shade of a raven's wing. "Because it looks like Panchito Pistoles is gonna get himself into a bit of scuffle that will bring about the Dawn of a Duel."

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _ **Next time: Panchito has a showdown at high noon that will be broadcasted online for everyone to see in Domino City. But against an opponent who has no time to deal with his Caballeros nonsense, he better have the right draw or else have his defeat be immortalised on the internet forever!**_

 **"** _ **Guns Akimbo" coming soon.**_


	5. Guns Akimbo

_**Duel Monsters was a proud sport, reminding me of the Olympics the Greeks held every four years or how I would watch gladiators fight it out in the colosseum with my fellow Roman gods.**_

 _ **And in this day and age, there were stadiums built to house thousands of people to watch duelists duke it out to see who would be crowned the King (or Queen) of Games. This got me excited, and I honestly couldn't wait to see when it was my turn to duel.**_

 _ **I was confident in my abilities - even though I've lost a few duels to José - that I could openly challenge anyone who came my way.**_

 _ **I would almost eat my words in regards to an open challenge, but until then, I would have to settle as to how Panchito Romero Miguel Francisco Quintero Gonzalez III was about to get involved in his first duel.**_

 _ **And, after learning how Panchito dueled, I'm glad that I wasn't his opponent.**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **4th Sign**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Guns Akimbo**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Sometimes, Seto Kaiba wished that every single problem in his life could easily be solved by giving it a Rider Kick to the face.

Case in point, when he returned to his office after letting Donald, José, Panchito and Xandra into Kaibaland, he was met with an exasperated little brother who questioned where his older brother ventured to the night before.

"Were you off in Domino Below again?" Mokuba asked while Seto rummaged on his desk for some files.

"Not even in the slightest," Seto replied. Easily finding the file behind a drawer, he added, "Why do you ask?"

Mokuba sighed. "There's been rumors on _Chasing Shadows_ about some incident with the Night Garden, a giant fire and a rampage from the Dueling Destroyer. I thought it'd be perfect for Kaibaman to investigate."

Seto sighed. Of course when you go out after a hero that was modeled after yourself, these sort of conversations would frequently come up. But now was not the time to think about these things.

"Seto," Mokuba began. "Ever since that incident in May, you haven't been yourself."

Seto blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

Mokuba looked at the card locket that hung over his heart. "It looks like you're trying too hard to do everything at once. I mean, it doesn't even look like you properly healed from-"

"I'm _fine_ , Mokuba," Seto interrupted, doing his best to not hear Sen snickering in his head. There was a three second pause before he added, "Why don't you go have some fun with your friends? I heard that they're out dueling today."

"You sure?" Mokuba whispered, looking at his hands.

Seto smiled and ruffled his little brother's hair. "Come on. Your friends have been worried about you ever since Alice Day. You act as if they're going to reject you outright."

Mokuba flinched as he clenched his hands into fists. "Maybe they would…"

"They wouldn't. Now go."

Mokuba looked at his brother before slowly nodding his head. "All right then."

And as the younger boy left, Seto raised a hand over his left eye. When he lowered his hand, he frowned.

 _You don't like what you see, do you?_ Sen stated, his voice calm.

Seto shook his head, noting the black bat-like wings on his brother's back and the pair of curled horns that topped Mokuba's black hair.

 _I don't, Sen._ He replied, trying to hold back a tear. _I don't like knowing that I know now…_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

After getting the orders down, Hanako had Kanata and Yuri prepare drinks for everyone while Donald and Xandra tried not to be too weirded out by the mannequins in front of them. Hanako didn't seem to weirded out by how Shotaro would spit a nail onto the ground every now and then, or how Philip would draw strange and macabre things with his pen in the air, with whatever he drew coming to life. Flowers bloomed, animals ran about, and people stabbed each other in the chest, all while Philip narrated the stories behind them.

Kanata and Yuri joined Donald and Xandra in watching Phillip paint them a story of betrayal and heartache with his whiteboard marker, narrating it with some comments from Shotaro or Jester Eiji every now and then. The four hung on to his every word as Philip's voice lulled them into a strange trance, drawn by the moving figures that danced and leapt about. He continued the story, telling them how he had floated between the mind of a doll and his own body.

"With the power of a kiss, I was back in my body. After I lodged a large blade into my chest, I begged Damballa to make me like Shotaro so I could help protect our dear city." Philip finished drawing himself and Shotaro as dolls and then drew a little heart over them. "And that is how this tale came to be told." He then place the cap back onto his whiteboard pen, the cap's pop awakening everyone.

"That's…" Xandra explained. "Unbelievable. How could you deliberately let Damballa damage your soul like that?"

"People do crazy things for the ones they love," Philip answered, sighing at the doll images of himself and Shotaro holding hands. Shotaro cackled, leaning back at his chair as he took a sip of a cup of Blue Eyes Mountain coffee.

"It's so much fun," Shotaro added. "Oh, I hope our little brother comes here soon! We should send a messenger to make sure he knows that we're here!"

"Oh, so you mean...like me?"

Shotaro turned and was suddenly lifted into the air by a man with blue-silver hair and a yellow mark that went down his right eye. He wore a red shirt covered by a brown vest, black pants and had a black and blue Duel Disk strapped to his right arm. Donald gasped as Kanata narrowed her eyes. Yuri frowned, Xandra prepared her bow and arrow, and Philip and Jester Eiji just took a sip of coffee.

"Kiryu Kyosuke" asked Kanata, activating her Duel Disk. "What's going on?"

"Didn't the Princess tell you?" asked Kiryu, tilting his head back at Kanata, a mischievous smile on his face. "Seems like we have a few 'uninvited guests' today." He then turned to Shotaro and smiled. "Hello there, handsome. Didn't expect someone like you to come here today."

"My, my," said Shotaro, tipping his fedora at Kiryu. "Your makeup is so unique...tell me…" He grinned, exposing two rows of nail teeth. "You wouldn't mind taking me for a round?"

Kiryu chuckled as he pulled Shotaro close to him and whispered, "It would be my pleasure to do such a-."

Before he could finish that sentence, a long black blade was lodged deep into his chest. Philip rose from his seat, snarling as he pointed his uncapped whiteboard pen at Kiryu.

"That should teach you not to get near my Shotaro," he snarled, watching Kiryu collapse to the side while the audience looked in horror.

"Phillip, do you know what you've done?!" Kanata exclaimed, seeing the boy with the green vest approach Shotaro. The fedora-wearing mannequin fell to the ground, laughing, clutching his sides and pounding a fist. "Ohhh…this is gonna end _badly…_ "

"Why's that?" asked Donald. He noticed something weird about Kiryu; for someone who had just been impaled, there was no blood pouring down his chest. And the expression on his face wasn't one of shock…

Rather, it was one of absolute glee.

Kiryu's mouth turned into a huge grin as he laughed like a clan of hyenas. The yellow mark over his right eye darkened to a bright red color and his eyes became black. Donald screamed as Kiryu pulled the long blade out of his chest and dropped it to the ground, smashing it with a fist until his fingers were stained black with ink.

"Oh, that was rich!" Kiryu snickered as he performed a kick-up. As he dusted off his sleeves, he added, "You know, I was gonna be nice and make my feeding be painless but now…" He grinned as his arms were covered with blue energy rings that sparked and crackled like lightning. "Now I'm gonna make sure to _tenderize_ my meal before I eat."

"I'd like to see you try," Shotaro chuckled, leaning close as if he was about to kiss Kiryu in front of everyone. "You're just like us, you know? You died and were resurrected by a dark being in exchange for a request."

"Huh?!" asked Xandra, observing the new details on Kiryu's face. "Wait a second...those eyes...that red mark...that guy's a Dark Signer, isn't he?"

"Well...sort of," said Kanata, looking to the side.

"What do you mean 'sort of'?!" Xandra exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table. "The Dark Signers are evil beings that wish to spread destruction across the Nightmare Realm!"

"Maybe the ones you're dealing with want to do that, but not the ones that resurrected Kiryu," Yuri noted. "They want to bring peace to Domino Below by feeding on the sin of people to sustain them and the Earthbound Immortals so that they can awaken their 'Dark King of the Afterlife' and unleash the Gates of Hamunaptra...or at least, that's what we're lead to believe."

Kanata blinked. "Yuri, how in the name of the Jade Emperor do you know this stuff?"

"...I was undercover in Domino Below for a few months," Yuri began, noticing how Kanata looked like she had her heart broken. This caused him to feel guilty, knowing that the last thing she needed was to know that everyone knew about him being in Domino City except her.

"And all this time you could've come to the Sacred Crane Orphanage to see Martha-san!" Kanata exclaimed. "She kept all those letters I wrote to you! Just one visit and I would've known you were there and I would've left Wonderland to see you again! Why? Why didn't you say anything?!"

Yuri looked down at his pendulum, ignoring the look of hurt on Kanata's face. "It...it was a crazy time back then."

Kanata resisted the urge to punch him in the face, and instead asked, " _How_ crazy?"

Yuri then looked at his hands and sighed. "Let's just say that there was a _reason_ I had to seal Yugo's memories at the time."

Kanata stayed quiet as she observed Kiryu currently bound by long black ropes drawn from Philip's marker, all while Shotaro took the time to punch Kiryu in the stomach with a twisted smile on his face. She was lucky that Haruka wasn't here to see this; knowing how much the girl was into boys' love, she'd never stop talking about this incident for the next few weeks.

(But, just in case Haruka needed evidence as to what was going on, Kanata decided to record the scene for posterity).

"Look at you, all tied up like this," Shotaro snickered, running a hand across Kiryu's face. "My, my...I wonder what would happen if you got a makeover like we did?"

Kiryu smirked. "My boyfriend would absolutely have a _hard_ time getting that image out of his head."

"Really?" asked Philip, looking over his book. "And where exactly would he be right now?"

"Right...here!"

Kiryu's eyes morphed into strange glass-like lenses and four inch blades grew underneath his nails. With three swift movements, the blades sliced through the black ropes before he grinned.

"Interesting…" Philip said, raising his eyebrows. "According to what my book says, Yusei Fudo is an April Witch."

"You've got that right," Kiryu answered, although his voice reverberated with another (Yusei's, obviously). "Now, let me show you what happens to those who decide to mess with an Enforcer of Hamunaptra!"

"Enforcer of what?!" Xandra repeated, turning to Kanata, ready to shoot arrows of light from her eyes.

"Long story, probably not important to whatever you need right now," Kanata quickly answered, watching Yusei-through-Kiryu slash the air with the razor blades while Philip pocketed his book into his vest and began drawing an innumerable amount of black dots. Then, with the sound of machine-gun fire, they shot toward Yusei-through-Kiryu, whose only response was to unleash a surge of electrical energy that disintegrated them.

"Oh and one more thing," said Yusei-through-Kiryu, licking the razor blades underneath his fingernails with a mischievous grin. "Whenever I hijack the minds of one of my fellow Enforcers, our powers combine! How are you gonna top that?!"

Shotaro and Philip tilted their heads before staring at each other, then looking back at Kiryu. Three seconds passed before they began laughing once more.

"Don't you know who we are?" said Shotaro, summoning a strange red belt from thin air. For some odd reason, it also contained two slots for USB drives. Shotaro strapped the belt on while a copy of it manifested around Philips waist. "We...are the two-in-one _Kamen Rider_!"

"Better not show that recording to Yugo or he's gonna have a heart attack," Yuri whispered into Kanata's ear.

Yusei-through-Kiryu raised an eyebrow as Shotaro and Philip pulled out two flash drives; Shotaro's was purple and Philip's was green.

"Ready, partner?" asked Philip.

Shotaro chuckled. "Always."

 **Cyclone! Joker!**

"Henshin!"

Both Shotaro and Philip inserted the flash drives into a slot on their belts-Shotaro's on the left and Philip on the right-as a strong gust of wind blew across the area. As Shotaro moved the USB drive holders out to the side (so the belt formed a 'W'), Philip collapsed onto the ground with a slight thump as Shotaro's body formed a strange set of armor that was half-green with yellow trim (on his right) and half-black with purple trim (on his left) with a silver line split down the middle. The lenses of the armor were red and a large silver 'W' acted as, of all things, the armor's eyebrows. A short silver scarf materialized, tied snug around the neck.

"Yeah, _definitely_ don't show this to Yugo," Yuri concluded. "Bad enough that he freaked over the doll, but seeing Kamen Rider Double in the flesh is gonna kill him."

"Once again, _how do you know this?_ " asked Kanata through clenched teeth. Before Yuri could speak up, she placed a hand over his mouth and said, "Wait, don't answer. 'Long story' is your answer for everything."

"Now," said Kamen Rider Double pointing at Yusei-through-Kiryu. "Count up your sins."

Yusei-through-Kiryu grinned. "We harbor the sins of Lust and Wrath, two-for-two you might say."

"Such a _deadly_ combination!" Philip noted, the right eye of Kamen Rider Double's armor flickering. "Let's see if it does the trick!"

And as the two (or four) began to fight, Kanata's phone began to ring. Stopping the recording, she placed the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked, placing a hand over her other ear to block out the sounds of maniacal laughter..

"Kanata!" said Haruka on the other line. "Hey uh, do you happen to have any strange and unusual guests at your mom's food truck right now?"

Kanata raised her eyebrow as she saw Kamen Rider Double (with the black side of the armor a now bright cyan and a gun in his left hand) rapidly firing shots at Yusei-through-Kiryu while Xandra and Donald looked on, munching on sweet potato fries. Yuri was looking at the pendulum dangling on the chain around his neck while Jester Eiji cheered his bosses on. Meanwhile, Hanako was too busy finishing plating food to notice the chaos (or she noticed it and was pretending not to notice it).

Kanata shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose just as Yusei-through-Kiryu screamed, "Time to give you the good shit!" and a blast of electrical energy lit up the area.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" she asked.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

As that humongous fight broke out, Hikari and Shinji walked through various carnival games, where children raced about and tried their luck at tossing baseballs at stacks of milk bottles or throw darts at a rack of balloons. Hikari sighed as she looked at a video on her phone, smiling at the comments underneath it.

"Last night's _Bust-A-Groove_ battle was amazing, Shinji!" she exclaimed, placing the phone over her heart. "I beat that arrogant dancer even though he tried to cheat, and you went and kicked some ass in your first ever Action Duel! How do you feel?"

"Like that duel was the craziest thing that I have ever done," Shinji replied. "Those monsters were absolutely annoying and you know that I don't dance."

"Except when we're home alone and we're playing Sia's 'Cheap Thrills'," Hikari replied. She sighed and bumped her shoulder against Shinji's. "I'm so happy just to dance with you, Shinji."

Shinji smiled back and returned the shoulder bump with one of his own. "I'm just glad you're feeling much better after _you-know-who_ showed his face earlier this morning."

Hikari frowned as she looked down at her phone. "I don't get what his deal was. Doesn't he understand that I'm not interested in what he's selling? Like at all?"

"He'll get it. Eventually. Now, what do you say we try to win a prize today?"

"Nah, I already have a prize in seeing you win that duel last...hmm? Who's that?"

Hikari pointed to someone at the shooting range with various children looking at said someone with curiosity. They wore a sombrero on top of their head, a magenta jacket with gold trim and matching pants, a belt with a deck holder strapped to his side, and a Duel Disk strapped to his left arm.

Oh, and there was also the fact that he was a rooster.

Said rooster closed his eye and stuck his tongue out at the target in front of him. Then, he fired a few rounds, each of them hitting the bull's-eye without fail. The kids surrounding him cheered as the rooster received his prize. an adorable plushie of a Buster Whelp of the Destruction Sword.

"That's...interesting," Shinji noted. "What do you think, Hikari? Uh, Hikari?"

Hikari grinned as she looked at her phone. "I think...I just found a new opponent for _Dawn of the Duel_! Come on, Shinji! Before he gets away!"

"Hikari, I don't think that's a good ide...hey! Hikari! Stop pulling me!"

With one hand in Shinji's, Hikari rushed over to the rooster as the crowd of kids began passing around the dragon plushie. She then swapped her phone for a video camera in her bag, pressed Record and said, "Hello there! You mind if I had word with you Mr…"

The rooster turned and waved at the camera. " _Hola!_ The name's Panchito."

"Panchito?" asked Hikari. "Just one name? You don't have a last name or something?"

"I do. It's known as 'Panchito Romero Miguel Francisco Quintero Gonzalez III'...but I'm okay with plain 'Panchito' or 'Panchito Gonzalez' or…"

"Panchito Pistoles!" Hikari finished, snapping her fingers. "Judging by how well you played that shooting gallery game, it has such a punchy ring to it, right?"

Panchito looked at the gun in hand and shrugged as he set it on the counter. "I guess you can say that."

"Great! Now, I notice that you're also a duelist. What type of deck do you use?"

"I, uh...well," Panchito drew cards from his deck and stared at them. "I guess I play a FIRE Warrior-type deck."

"Ooh….that's pretty hot, if ya know what I mean!" Hikari giggled. "So...how would you like to star in an episode of _Dawn of the Duel_?"

"Please Mr. Panchito!"

"Do it, do it, do it!"

"For us? Pleeeaase?"

The kids continued to clamor for Panchito to duel as Shinji grimaced and Hikari's smile grew wide. Then, after five seconds of contemplating, Panchito gave his answer.

"Sure!" he said. "I mean, I do need to get some practice in."

"Great!" said Hikari, pushing a 'I really don't want to do this. I hate you so much right now' Shinji forward. "And this is your opponent! Shinji Shimabara, the White Rabbit Knight to the Moon Goddess!"

"That is _so_ not my nickname," Shinji muttered as the children stepped back. He let out a sigh. "But, seeing as I'm not getting out of this…"

He activated his rhinestone covered Duel Disk and drew five cards. "Gem-Knights, stand-by for battle!" He announced.

" _Vamanos!_ " Panchito cried, also activating his Duel Disk. "Let's duel!"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Hikari shouted as she pointed the camera towards herself. "Welcome to a Special Edition of _Dawn of the Duel_! The sun has risen today on a duel that will get you ready for life's unexpected surprises!"

Hikari then moved aside to show Shinji. "To my left is Shinji Shimabara…" Then she moved the camera to the right. "And to my right is Panchito Pistoles!"

Hikari then flashed a grin as she had the camera record her once more. "Who will win in this unique duel today? We'll just have to see! And with that, the Dawn of a Duel has arrived! Let's go!"

 **(Shinji: 8000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 8000)**

As this was going on, a few people began to approach the two duelists, causing Hikari to smile. She loved it whenever an audience came to her recordings.

However, she paused when she saw Haruka, Masato and Yugo emerging in the front, along with a slightly dazed Yusei and a green parrot following them. Panchito turned and waved toward said parrot.

"Oh, José!" The Mexican rooster said. "You're just in time to see me duel!"

"I hope you have a better time than I did," said José, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's just say that Xandra isn't the _only_ one who has an utter dislike for Harpie Ladies."

"José, huh?" said Hikari. "Let me guess, you got utterly trounced by Haruka, right?"

José just nodded his head as Yusei narrowed his eyes when he noticed Panchito looking at his cards.

 _Kiryu,_ he said in his mind. _You're with the other two, right?_

 _Yeah, but I don't sense anything off...yet._ Kiryu replied back. _One of them is dueling right now._

 _What a coincidence. I'm watching one duel, too._

 _Ooh, wanna make a bet to see if both of them win their duels today?_

Yusei shrugged his shoulders. _No thanks. After the beating we just took to those maniacal mannequins, I'd rather not get banged too much. And_ you _lost your little game of poker with Crow last night…_

 _Ugh, don't remind me._ Kiryu grumbled.

Yusei smirked as he watched Shinji draw his card.

"For my first move," said Shinji. "I play the Spell Card, Gem-Knight Fusion!"

The crowd gasped as Shinji's Spell Card appeared, looking similar to a Polymerization card with red and blue figures and a storm of gemstones on a white background.

"When this card is played, I can Special Summon a 'Gem-Knight' Fusion monster by using materials from my hand or deck. For this, I fuse Gem-Knight Obsidian and Gem-Knight Garnet from my hand!"

Shinji discarded two cards to the graveyard as two images of those monsters hovered above his head. One was a monster made of obsidian with a large black bead necklace on its body. The other one was a knight made of red stone whose fists were on fire. They swirled above Shinji's head as he placed a closed fist onto the palm of his other hand.

" _Sharp jet-black darkness and red seeded stone of blood. In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Warrior of crimson fury, Gem-Knight Ruby!"_

Emerging from the Spell Card was a monster that looked similar to Gem-Knight Garnet with added gold and cyan trim, a dark blue cape and a crimson halberd in his hands. On his chest was the emblem of a water drop. (2500 ATK)

"And that's not all," Shinji continued. "When Gem-Knight Obsidian is sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Normal monster from my graveyard. And it just so happens that Gem-Knight Garnet fits that criteria!"

In a burst of flames, Gem-Knight Garnet materialized, gauntlets wrapped with flames. (1900 ATK)

"Oh and one more thing. I can take Gem-Knight Fusion back to my hand if I Banish a 'Gem-Knight' monster in my graveyard. Guess who I choose?"

Panchito gulped as the ghostly image of Gem-Knight Obsidian materialized by Shinji's side, handing him a card before fading away.

"And I'm ending my turn with a face-down card," said Shinji, slipping a card into his Duel Disk. Then, folding his arms across his chest, he added, "Now, show me what you got!"

"Um, okay then," said Panchito, drawing a card. "Just so you know I have some very unique monsters in my deck."

"How 'unique' are we talking?" asked Shinji.

"You won't believe it, but some of the monsters I have in my hand are part orange and part green, and have red and blue arrows on them," Panchito explained, staring at his hand. "They're called 'Pendulum Monsters'."

"...Did you just say 'Pendulum Monsters'?" asked Shinji. Most of the audience gasped along with him.

"Yep!" said Panchito. "From what Seto Kaiba told me, these guys are very rare. In fact, the only person in Domino City who played these was - "

"My brother," Shinji finished, gritting his teeth. "Reiji Shimabara, the Boy who Signed the Dark Contract."

"The _what_?" Panchito gasped. "Um, listen, this isn't what it-"

"Pendulum Monsters _ruined my life_!" Shinji yelled. "My brother played those monsters so well that he let the success get into his head. It got to the point that no one wanted to duel him, and everyone was scared of me just because I was his little brother."

"It's true," Haruka noted, taking a glance at how Hikari fixed the camera towards her. "Someone interviewed me about whether or not I would take a chance to duel Reiji and, trust me, I would rather face the wrath of three Ojama Kings powered by Ojama Country than see what Reiji wanted to unleash."

"And then one day, Reiji got a phone call that had him challenge Seto Kaiba for an open duel," Shinji continued. "He left and never came back."

Panchito placed a hand over his beak. So did José. "W...what happened to him?"

Shinji curled his free hand into a fist. "He went to what was supposed to be the location for their duel, only to be blindsided by some thugs and ended up dueling the man known as the Dueling Destroyer. Despite his efforts, Reiji lost; both the duel and his life."

At this point, everyone was quiet as Shinji felt like he was going to puke, not wanting to remember those dark days where he waited alone in his apartment for his brother to return, being ostracized by practically everyone at school for becoming homeless, feeling that he wanted to die because of everything he went through and then learning what truly happened to Reiji a month ago…

" _Lo siento_ ," Panchito whispered. "I...I had no idea. I'm sure that your brother's in a better place."

"Yeah, he is," Shinji spat out. He shared a glance at Hikari who nodded her head before staring at the two cards in Panchito's hand. "So, aren't you gonna play them?"

"Is...is that wise?" José commented. "We can all tell that these monsters open up a lot of wounds for you."

"If I don't face my hatred for these monsters head on, I'll live with this anger for the rest of my life," Shinji replied. "And besides, Panchito…" His lip curled into a smirk. "Don't tell me that you're too _chicken_ to duel me in front of these people."

"Oooh…." The audience said as Panchito narrowed his eyes.

"Well then," said Panchito, lowering the brim of his sombrero. "It's on, _mi amigo_!"

He then revealed the two cards in his hand. "I'm gonna set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 2 Igknight Crusader and Scale 7 Igknight Templar!"

He placed the two cards on his Duel Disk as the word 'PENDULUM' appeared in a rainbow-colored text. Then, two pillars of light emerged behind him as his two warriors (Crusader being a blue armored warrior wielding a sword with armor that resembled a gun and Templar with orange trimmed armor and a weapon that looked like a blade was attached to a sniper rifle) flew into the sky with a '2' appearing beneath Igknight Crusader and a '7' appeared beneath Igknight Templar.

"I've never seen those types of monsters before," said Yugo. "That's amazing!"

"Thanks to these cards, I can...I can…uh…." Panchito paused and looked at his hand all while Shinji and the audience looked flabbergasted.

"Don't tell me you just started dueling yesterday," he exclaimed. To see someone obtain the powerful Pendulum Monsters yet not know how to use them? He didn't know if this was just as embarrassing as that Action Duel but it was certainly getting there.

"I didn't," Panchito answered earnestly. "In fact, I just got this deck and Duel Disk an hour ago by the great Kaibaman!"

"... _Kaibaman_ gave you that deck?" Shinji repeated. "KAIBAMAN _gave you that deck?!_ "

Panchito gulped, realizing who he mentioned. "Oh right, that thing with your brother…"

"Shinji," said Haruka, jerking a thumb at José just as it looked like Shinji was going to take Gem-Knight Ruby's weapon to slice Panchito's head off. "This little bird told me that Kaibaman brought him and his fellow 'Caballeros' to hone their dueling skills because they're supposed to fight off against the Dark Signers."

"... _Kaibaman_ is requesting _these guys_ …" Shinji gestured to the rooster and parrot, emphasizing his words. "To fight the Dark Signers."

There was a long, long pause as Shinji stared at Haruka slowly nodding her head. Hikari raised an eyebrow as she waited for her boyfriend to respond. Shinji just kept staring and staring and staring…

Then, he burst into laughter.

"You're kidding me, right?" he asked, throwing his head back. "There's...there's no way that a newbie with a deck of Pendulum Monsters gifted to him by Kaibaman is off to stop the Dark Signers. Is he insane? They'll serve ice cream in the Underworld before you find me believing this story!"

He continued to laugh, but no one was laughing with him. Panchito was sweating and José was tugging on the collar of his suit. Even Hikari was speechless.

"Shinji," she stated. "I...I don't think Haruka's joking."

"She isn't," said Yusei, shifting his gaze at the camera, his eyes moving fast enough to cause Hikari to jump before he turned to the purple haired Gem-Knight duelist. "Shinji Shimabara, I suggest you cease your laughter this instant."

"Or what?" Shinji replied, calming down slightly. "What the hell are you gonna do about it?"

Yusei said nothing, but rather fixated his gaze into Shinji's eyes in a staring contest. Shinji returned the glare with one of his own. The audience tensed up all while Panchito looked in confusion.

"Uh," he began. "I don't think this is the proper time for a staring contest, Mr…"

"Shh," said José, appearing next to Panchito and placing a feather to his beak. "Panchito, he's uh, he's…"

José hastily whispered something into Panchito's ear, all while Shinji stayed still...until the expression on his face shifted into a look of agony.

"Make it stop, make it stop!" Shinji exclaimed, gripping his head. "MAKE IT STOP!"

"Not until you apologize," Yusei hissed, his cobalt eyes practically boring into Shinji's mind and causing the audience to take two steps back. A dark wind formed around Yusei's feet as he approached Shinji and whispered, "Right now."

"I...I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Shinji stammered, looking into the camera in the hopes that Hikari would stop recording and save him. "Just please…"

Yusei smirked, causing everyone who was watching to gasp and whisper to themselves what was going on. Surely this couldn't be the same Yusei Fudo of Team Satisfaction... "Prove it then."

"P...prove it?" Shinji repeated.

Yusei nodded his head as he patted the younger boy's shoulder. "Continue this duel. Help him or..." Yusei leaned close, a smirk on his face as he squeezed Shinji's shoulder. "What I just showed you will just be a _preview_ of the agonizing visions that I'm going to place in your mind tonight."

"Fine, fine, fine I'll help!" Shinji shouted, watching as Yusei smirked and returned to his spot near Haruka, Masato and Yugo. Everyone else stared at Yusei before the Team Satisfaction member turned to Panchito and the two Pendulum Monsters still hovering about his head, waiting for the next move.

"What are you waiting for?" asked Yusei. "Pendulum Summon, Panchito Romero Miguel Francisco Quintero Gonzalez III!"

"Oh, uh, right!" said Panchito, looking back at Shinji and adjusting the brim of his sombrero. "Now that I set the Pendulum, I can Special Summon monsters from my hand whose levels are between 3 and 6! And I have two monsters that wish to say ' _Hola!'_. Go Level 4 Command Knight and Level 6 Knight of the Red Lotus! Let's carve the arc of victory!"

Two bolts of lightning struck Panchito's side of the field as his two warriors emerged. Command Knight was a woman wearing bright red armor and a purple cape. She wore a hat made out of a raccoon and adorned with golden feathers and she wielded a sword in her right hand. (1900 DEF)

Then came Knight of the Red Lotus, a warrior that was a head taller than Command Knight with red-orange spiky hair and a strip of purple cloth covering his mouth. He wore indigo armor styled like bones and in his left hand was a sword made with multiple blue-violet blades. Flaring out behind him was his indigo cape, the strips of cloth made to resemble flower petals. (2100 ATK)

"Why is he a Knight of the _Red_ Lotus if he's not even wearing red?" José asked. Haruka, Masato and Yugo just shrugged their shoulders.

"And with Command Knight on the field," Panchito continued. "She increases the attack strength of all Warrior-type monsters I control by 400. Plus, you can't attack her as long as I have another monster on the field!

Command Knight drew her sword out and pointed it into the air as she and Knight of the Red Lotus became wrapped with a fiery aura. (Command Knight: 1200 -) 1600 ATK, Knight of the Red Lotus: 2100 -) 2500 ATK)

"And now," Panchito said. "My Pendulum monsters will activate their effects. Go!"

Both Igknight Pendulum monsters prepared their weapons as Shinji braced himself. Then, the monsters raised their gun/bladed weapons into the air.

And then the two shattered into pixels.

"H...huh?" asked Hikari, vocalizing what everyone else was thinking. "Did he just destroy his _own_ Pendulum monsters?! Talk about reckless gun usage."

Most of the audience began to whisper to one another as Panchito gulped.

"It's...it's all part of my strategy!" he hastily stated. "You see, I wanted to destroy my Pendulum monsters because I can get a FIRE Warrior-type monster from my deck or graveyard! And all of my Igknight monsters are FIRE Warrior-type monsters."

 _And I'm guessing that every single Igknight monster is a 'Pendulum' monster too._ Shinji grimaced. _As long as I don't have to confront Pendulum Synchros/Xyzs/Fusions, I_ think _I'll be able to tolerate this._

"Onto my attack!" said Panchito. "Knight of the Red Lotus, attack Gem-Knight Ruby!"

The Knight with the very misleading name charges into battle, his blue-violet sword ready to slice the ruby-armored warrior. Instead…

"I activate my face-down card, Covering Fire!"

Shinji's card flipped over, revealing a Mechanicalchaser about to be destroyed by a large red blast of energy, while a Cannon Soldier fired an attack to protect its partner.

"With this card, I add the attack of Gem-Knight Garnet to Gem-Knight Ruby's own! Now your Knight of the Red Lotus is gonna scatter across the four winds!"

Gem-Knight Garnet placed a hand onto Gem-Knight Ruby's polearm as the Gem-Knight Fusion Monster prepared to strike back. (2500 -) 4400 ATK)

"Wait, you can do that?!" Panchito gasped. "No, wait, Red Lotus Knight! Stop the attack!"

"He can't stop now," Shinji countered.

Gem-Knight Ruby raised his polearm weapon to block Knight of the Red Lotus' attack before slicing his opponent's head clean off.

 **(Shinji: 8000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 6200)**

"M...my turn's not over yet!" Panchito countered, "I play Pot of Greed so I can draw two cards!"

Shinji said nothing as he saw the familiar grim grinning green pot and Panchito drawing two more cards.

"And next, I'll set my entire hand face-down!" Panchito exclaimed, slipping three cards into his Duel Disk and three large face-down cards appeared before him. "I end my turn there!"

"Panchito is playing Russian Roulette with us here!" Hikari commented. "With his entire hand gone, his Pendulum monsters taking the bullet and Shinji with his Gem-Knight monsters in hand, what will he do?

"That we'll have to wait and see. It's Shinji's turn now."

Shinji drew his card, then he smirked.

"First, I summon Gem-Armadillo in Attack Mode!"

A large yellow ball rolled onto the field before it unrolled itself to reveal a large armadillo with glowing orange gems on its limbs and sharp claws. (1700 ATK)

"And when Gem-Armadillo is Normal Summoned, I get to take another 'Gem-Knight' monster from my deck to my hand!"

 _That way he gathers more resources for his Gem-Knight Fusion monsters!_ Panchito thought, watching Shinji take another card to his hand.

"Next, " Shinji continued. "I play my Spell Card, Brilliant Fusion!"

A Continuous Spell Card appeared, looking similar to Gem-Knight Fusion except the center of the card depicted a large diamond and the background shone with the colors of the rainbow.

"With this card, I can Fusion Summon a 'Gem-Knight' from my Extra Deck by using Fusion Material from my deck. So now, I fuse Gem-Knight Lazuli, Sapphire and Emerald together! Come to me, my monsters!"

The spirits of three Gem-Knight monsters appeared in front of Shinji. Lazuli with skin the color of clay and 'hair' that fell down into long pigtails, Sapphire made of ice with a peaked hood and emerald with a green top-knight, spring green body with a feline head and a buckler attached to his left arm. They melded together into one single beam of light before being sucked into Shinji's Fusion card.

 _"Gem with the blue glow of power! Brilliant emerald of good fortune! Green stone that wields a mystic strength within! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Dazzling lady, Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond!"_

Rising from the ground was a woman in streamlined white and navy segmented armor and four spikes jutting out from her shoulders. A crimson cape was tied around her neck and in her right hand was a longsword. It was brilliant, deadly and looked ready to crush any opponent to dust.

But something was wrong with its stats. (0/0)

"Um, no offense but…" Panchito scratched his head. "Why does your 'dazzling lady' have 0 attack points?"

"That's the side effect of Brilliant Fusion," Shinji answered. "Any monster summoned through that has their stats drop to 0.

"However, should I discard a Spell Card, I can have Lady Brilliant Diamond have her original stats until the end of your turn. And I think you know where I'm going with this…"

Shinji discarded Gem-Knight Fusion as Lady Brilliant Diamond began to shine in a...brilliant light, her body radiating with power that made her shine like the sun. (0/0 -) 3400/2000)

"And then, I'll banish another 'Gem-Knight' monster from my grave to bring Gem-Knight Fusion back into my hand!"

Gem-Knight Sapphire's body appeared by Shinji's side before he took Gem-Knight Fusion into his hand once more, causing Panchito to sweat.

"Oh and one more thing," Shinji noted. "I have a variety of 'Gem-Knights' that can be summoned just by using one 'Gem-Knight' and a specific type of monster. This one needs a Gem-Knight plus a Rock-type monster...which is exactly what Gem Armadillo is!

"So now I play Gem-Knight Fusion and fuse Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Armadillo to bring out one of my enforcers!"

The Gem-Knight version of Polymerization appeared once more as both Gem monsters were sucked into it.

" _Red-seeded stone of blood and mammal with a rocky shell! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Gem-Knight Zirconia!"_

The ground began to shake as a monster at least twice the size of Shinji emerged. Its body was white with silver trim and instead of hands, it had two massive mallets with zircon gems as the faces. Draped over its body was a violet cape that could have doubled as a blanket. (2900 ATK)

"Does _he_ have a special ability?" asked Panchito, looking at how the monster towered over Command Knight.

"No, but he has enough attack points to pummel anything you bring to him into diamond dust," Shinji answered. "But first...

"Gem-Knight Ruby...attack Command Knight!"

Gem-Knight Ruby rushed towards Panchito's monster, polearm raised above its head as Command Knight looked up at the shadow of death waiting for her.

"No big deal," said Panchito. "My monster's in Defense Mode."

"Actually, that _is_ a big deal," said Shinji. "If Gem-Knight Ruby fights a monster in Defense position, the difference between its attack points and that monster's defense points gets reflected onto you."

" _Aye yi yi!"_ Panchito shouted as Gem-Knight Ruby's polearm sliced Command Knight in half.

 **(Shinji: 8000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 5600)**

"And now, Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond and Gem-Knight Zirconia...pound him into dust!"

Both Lady Brilliant Diamond and Zirconia charged into battle, the former with her sword and the latter drawing his right arm back to punch Panchito across the ocean.

" _Espera!_ " Panchito exclaimed. "I activate my face-down card, Nutrient Z!"

His first card flipped over, revealing a vial of medicine marked with a 'Z', '4000' and topped with a winged-skull topper.

"When I'm about to take more than 2000 points of damage, I get to increase my lifepoints by 4000! That'll be more than enough to survive your onslaught!"

A vial of medicine similar to that on the card appeared in Panchito's hand. He took three large gulps before the empty vial vanished, nearly gagging at the taste.

"Huh," Shinji noted. "I always wondered what it tastes like."

"I'll give you a hint," said Panchito, running a hand through his tongue. "It _doesn't_ taste like chicken."

This caused Shinji to laugh once again. This time, the audience also joined in.

 **(Shinji: 8000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 9600)**

But that didn't stop Lady Brilliant Diamond from performing a diagonal slash on Panchito's coat or Zirconia from slugging a massive fist into Panchito's stomach.

 **(Shinji: 8000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 3300)**

"Not bad…" Panchito wheezed. "But now it's time to make this more electrifying! I play my second face-down card, Shock Draw!"

The crowd gasped as Panchito flipped his face-down card over and drew a new hand of six cards.

"I've never seen anyone take more than 6000 points of damage and tie it to Shock Draw before!" Hikari exclaimed. 'It seems as if Panchito is just full of surprises!"

"Indeed I am!" Panchito answered. "I'm not just a duelist, I'm also a masked luchador too! Just call me _El Gallo Loco_!"

"Ooh...so you're like Rey Mysterio or El Santo?" Hikari exclaimed. "That's so _cool_!"

Shinji turned to Hikari. "I didn't know you were into wrestling."

"I am if they fight underground!" Hikari answered. "So Panchito, have _you_ ever fought luchadors underground?"

"No, but I was chosen by the Goddess of Life to fight off against the Goddess of Death's champion a while back. It...didn't end well."

"Did you lose a championship? Had your arm broken? Got benched for a few months?"

"No, no and no," José answered. "The truth is...he, along with Donald and I, sort of...er, died."

"...Died?" Yugo answered. "Like you all got pinned and then 'sacrificed' for the sake of the show but when it ended, you all stayed for photos and autographs."

"Oh no," José elaborated. "I mean die die. Like dead-dead. Forever dead. **Dead**."

Everyone just awkwardly stared at both birds - except for Yusei, who calmly asked, "What type of afterlife do you have there?"

"Oh it was sort of...kind of...interesting," Panchito answered honestly. "I mean, there was a long waiting line, the ferryman runs a cruise to the afterlife and we were nearly killed off by devious carapace tendons."

" _Karasu tengu_ ," Yusei corrected.

"Yeah, that and it turns out the entrance to the underworld was some forest that rests at the base of Mt. Fuji. Who knew?"

"The gate to the underworld in your world is at _Aokigahara Forest_?" Haruka exclaimed. "That...that place is well known for _suicides_!"

"Yeah, that was something we didn't need to know," José muttered. "Wait, _Senhor_ Yusei...why are you so interested in stuff like this?"

Yusei just raised an eyebrow and, for a moment, his cobalt eyes changed into a pair of mirror-lenses before a tiny smile formed on his lips.

"That's a secret," he said, placing a finger to his lips. Yusei then turned to the weirded out Gem-Knight duelist. "Now, Shinji...your turn isn't over."

Shinji blinked before looking at his hand. "Oh, right. So I'll, uh, end this with a face-down card, then," he muttered, placing another card into his Duel Disk. "Now then, give us a surprise Panchito! Show us how brilliant Pendulum Summoning can be!"

"Yeah! Come on! Go Panchito!" cried various audience members as Panchito nodded his head.

"Here I go!" he said, drawing his card. "Victory is at hand!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Not everyone who came to Kaibaland came here to duel.

At the edge of a fountain depicting the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, sat a teenage girl with her short red hair bunched into two pigtails. She wore a large denim jacket with pink lines, a purple top, a white skirt and magenta boots trimmed with fur. In her hands was a large tome with gilded pages, depicting a large black dragon on its cover with a maiden with red and black hair rested by the massive dragon's side, flowers in her hair, a moon pendant around her pale neck and bird feathers draping her gossamer dress. Seated in front of her were children with wide eyes listening to the tale that the girl spun, each sentence like a strand of silk being woven into an elaborate tapestry.

The girl with the book loved this; she loved stories and she loved reading these to children. It always warmed her heart whenever an innocent soul asked for a story, and she never disappointed.

" _And it is said,"_ The red-haired storyteller intoned, her voice sweet as warm milk and honey. " _That those who wish to traverse through darkness and mirrors can find Spider Grandmother and her children parading across the land, Llorona and the souls she dragged into the water depths that is herself, Katrina laying out another harvest for her skeletal soldiers, Tormenta and his warnings to the Nightmare Circus, Xihute and his turquoise hearth, the twins on their giant tortoise, the Maidens of Mictal in their dark glade, Lady Imagica and her all-seeing light...each and every single one of them waits for someone to enter Limbo._

" _Do not be afraid. Just close your eyes, open your heart, see the door open...then enter._

" _I'll be waiting."_

The girl then closed the book with a soft thump and was met with a round of applause.

"Wow," said a young girl. "That was an awesome story, Mistress Rui!"

Rui smiled as she stood up and bowed. "Thank you very much. However, I'm afraid that's all the time I have for today."

The children complained, as Rui added with a giggle, "But next time I come here, I'll have even more stories to tell. Until then, do you promise to behave?"

"Promise!" the children said.

"Very good," said Rui, watching the children return to their parents. "Take care then!"

She watched as the children began to retell the tales of Spider Grandmother, Imagica and all of those who resided in the strange and twisted lands that only existed in her book before she turned around to someone's applause. Standing there as if he was there the entire time, was her golden-eyed knight in his azure coat.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked.

Rui smiled as a swirl of magic made her book vanish before she ran into her beloved knight's arms. "Everything's been fine, Wes. Where have you been this past half-hour or so?"

Wes chuckled as he ruffled Rui's hair. Then his gold eyes turned black and his playful smile dropped into a frown.

"You sense something off?" Rui asked, knowing the look in Wes's eye.

Wes nodded his head, noting the two girls having lunch at a white table, shaded by a blue and white parasol. "I've followed the little voice in my head that's been telling me that there are suspicious people here today.

"Domino is known for hosting lots of 'suspicious people'," Rui noted. Placing the last two words in air quotes. "You'll need to be more specific."

Wes took a step back from Rui before he pointed to the two girls with a plate of sandwiches between them, "Those two are Dark Signers."

Rui leaned forward and placed a hand above her forehead. She frowned at how normal they looked. "They look like that they're just finishing each other's sandwiches."

"And _we_ look like a normal couple." Wes noted. "What do you see?"

Rui narrowed her eyes as she saw a bright yellow and blue aura surround the two girls. "Wait, their auras…they hold the Earthbound Immortals of the Monkey and Giant! But…"

"But what?"

Rui lowered her hand and answered, "Their auras feel...different."

Wes raised an eyebrow. "You can feel auras now?"

Rui nodded her head. "They're not like the Cusillu and Ccapac Apu of our world; these Dark Signers haven't bonded that long."

"That doesn't necessarily mean that they're weak." Wes looked at his Duel Disk. "I think it's better if approach them."

"W...wait, we can't do that!" Rui exclaimed, grabbing onto Wes's sleeve just as Wes took a step forward. "I mean, look at them."

Wes tilted his head as he stared at the two. "Like you said, they're just eating sandwiches...what's…"

"No, look at _them_."

Rui pointed to the side. Wes followed her finger and saw two people approaching the girls and their sandwiches. One was tall with a baseball cap, the other was short and wore a purple jacket. Rui could see red auras around them.

" _They're also Dark Signers."_ she said through a connection in their minds. " _They may not be like our Dark Signers but they're still Dark Signers."_

" _I see what you mean,"_ Wes mused. " _So, how do we approach this?"_

Rui looked down at her Duel Disk and smiled as an idea bloomed in her mind. " _We duel."_

Wes's eyes widened. " _Duel? If we duel one of them, we risk the chance of someone unleashing their Earthbound Immortal and - "_

" _No!_ We _duel and lure them to us. Then, we can get a better look at them and see what they're planning."_

" _Ohhhh…"_ Wes chuckled and placed a kiss on Rui's cheek. " _You know, did I ever tell you how much I love whenever you make such a marvelous plan, Princess?"_

Rui smiled. She never got tired of Wes calling her that. " _Now, let's see who takes the first move."_

" _We draw the top card of our deck and monster with the highest attack decides turn order?"_ Wes asked, looking at his Duel Disk. " _Very well. In 3...2…"_

Both of them drew a card and brought it down for the two to see. Wes drew PSY-Frame Alpha and groaned in disgust. Rui drew Dark Magician Girl and giggled.

"All righty then," Rui announced, loud enough for everyone to hear. She then lifted her arms into the air and shouted, "My brave knight, it seems like the fair princess shall be showing off her mystical, magical multitude of maidens in a brilliant, bright and beautiful display of a dizzying and dazzling duel!"

Wes smirked as he activated his Duel Disk, unaware of four people turning to face him. "Okay then, princess. Let's go for a ride!"

"Are you ready to repent?" Rui purrs, drawing her cards. "Then let's duel!"

And the duel began.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Panchito looked at the seven cards that were in his hand as he tried to figure out what to do next. Here he was, dueling in front of twenty to thirty people and the entire thing recorded for thousands more to see. He rather be wrestling for his life again then suffer through any of this.

But this wasn't what a true Caballero would do. Right now, he had to prove that he was capable of unleashing Pendulum monsters without falling flat on his face.

 _Okay, think._ Panchito thought. _What did Kaiba say about Pendulum Monsters? That if they were destroyed after summoned onto the field, they get sent into the...the...the Extra Deck! Right. And all I gotta do is play Pendulum Monsters to bring them back again._

 _But the problem is that they're too weak compared to Shinji's! All of those Fusions monsters will lay waste before I even get a chance to attack. If only I had a different target..._

 _Wait...a different target! That's it!_

"I play the Spell Card, Igknight Reload!" Panchito announced. "I show you as many Pendulum monsters I have in my hand, shuffle them into my deck and then draw cards equal to the number that I shuffled plus one. I'll reveal the three Igknight Pendulum Monsters in my hand and send them back!

He slapped a Spell Card onto the field, depicting one of the Igknight monsters - Igknight Margrave - reloading his revolver/blade hybrid of a weapon.

"But…" Panchito added. "Before I get to that, I'll chain Igknight Reload to my face-down card, Igknights Ignite!"

His final card lifted, showing a rather...comedic site. It showed a green Igknight warrior - Igknight Gallant - pointing his gun at both Igknight Crusader and a yellow Igknight warrior - Igknight Squire - while a pink Igknight warrior - Igknight Cavalier - has just beaten the hell out of Igknight Templar. It...really did not show the Igknights in a brave or heroic light.

"If I destroy one 'Igknight' card I control, I can Special Summon an 'Igknight' monster from my deck! And the one I choose is my Level 7 Igknight Lancer!"

A chain linked Panchito's cards together before Igknight Reload shattered and Panchito's newest monster appeared from Igknights Ignite. It was at least one-and-a-half times taller than the rooster without his sombrero on, with orange and black armor and a gatling gun mounted on his right arm, stuffed with silver-tipped lances. (2600 ATK)

Then, Panchito returned three cards into his deck, watched as his Duel Disk shuffled the cards, before he drew four more cards.

"I get it!" said Masato. "Igknight Reload hadn't finished activating its effect when Panchito played Igknights Ignite so that technically counted as a face-up card."

"That's nice and all," said Haruka. "But unless Panchito can figure out a proper strategy with them, he'll still have to contend with the other Gem-Knights lurking within Shinji's deck."

"Now," said Panchito, raising his arms into the air. "Ladies and gentlemen! It's time for set the scales once more! I'll place Scale 2 Igknight Paladin and Scale 7 Igknight Margrave!"

Once again, Panchito placed two monsters onto his Duel Disk. The word 'PENDULUM' in its rainbow text lit up before the two monsters rose into the sky. There was Igknight Paladin, in black armor with purple highlights, and whose weapon was a sword with the handle of a musket as its hilt. And then there was Igknight Margrave, the same monster on Igknight Reload, in his grey, black and red armor, pulling out a pair of riot guns with curved blades fused to it out of its gigantic holsters strapped to his legs.

"With this, I'll Pendulum Summon Igknight Cavalier from my hand and my Igknight Crusader and Templar from my Extra Deck! Let's go!"

Igknight Crusader (1600 ATK) and Templar (1700 ATK) let out battle cries as they rose onto the field. Then, the newest monster leapt onto the field, dressed in what looked pink and black armor that looked similar to ninja garb. Beneath the helm, which also was able to sustain a long pink and black ponytail, the warrior had a crimson eyed glare as she pulled out a dagger out of thin air. Strapped to her right thigh was a holster for three more of these blades, ready to pierce someone's eye out if need be. (2400 ATK)

"Wait, Pendulum monsters that are destroyed go into the Extra Deck?" Hikari exclaimed.

"You didn't know that?" asked Panchito, tilting his head.

Hikari's cheeks turned red. "Of course I didn't! Pendulum monsters don't just fall out of the sky after all!"

"Oh, right. Well, that's something you can educate everyone on!" said Panchito, taking another card from his hand. "Next, it's time to rise up! I play the Field Spell Card, Ignition Phoenix!"

Placing his card on the field, everyone looked in awe at the image. Four Igknight monsters - Squire, Crusader, Templar and Paladin - each raising an arm into the air, pressed together in unity as a strange warrior in silver armor and red dragon wings rose into the air. Surrounding the figure was the image of a fiery phoenix. Then, the Igknights on Panchito's field became wrapped by a fiery aura shaped like a phoenix.

"As long as this card is on the field, all Igknight monsters gain 300 Attack and Defense points!"

The Igknight monsters let out a cry as they raised their weapons and let the fiery energy flow through their bodies and increase their stats.

 _Igknight Lancer: (2600/1800 -) 2900/2100)_

 _Igknight Crusader: (1600/300 -) 1900/600)_

 _Igknight Cavalier: (2400/1200 -) 2700/1500)_

 _Igknight Templar: (1700/1300 -) 2000/1600)_

"Hold up," said Shinji, noticing Panchito's monsters. "Igknight Lancer is an Effect monster, not a Normal Pendulum monster…"

"Oh, right," said Panchito. "Well, his effect is that If I return an 'Igknight' monster I control to my hand, I can send one Spell or Trap card you control to the bottom of your deck. So, Shinji...what would happen if Brilliant Fusion leaves the field?"

"No!" Shinji shouted.

But as Igknight Crusader returned to Panchito's hand, there was nothing he could do except watch Igknight Lancer launch an attack on his Continuous Spell Card as it was blown back into his deck. Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond screamed before she shattered into a hundred tiny diamonds.

"Time to strengthen my troops!" said Panchito. "I play The A. Forces to increase the attack of my warriors for every Warrior or Spellcaster I control. I control 3 Warriors so that means they each gain 600 more attack points!"

And then, the Igknight monsters began dancing for joy and shooting their weapons into the air and everyone ducked so they didn't get hit with holographic bullets. (Igknight Lancer: 2900 -) 3500 ATK, Cavalier: 2700 -) 3300 ATK, Templar: 2000 -) 2600 ATK)

"Now Igknights! Ready?" Panchito asked, as the Igknights pointed their weapons at Shinji's monsters. "Charge!"

Cavalier rushed towards Zirconia, leapt into the air and then fired two of her daggers at the gem on Zirconia's chest which shattered on contact. The juggernaut groaned before it collapsed on its side.

Then, Templar prepared his sniper rifle blade and aimed it at Gem-Knight Ruby. With a click of the trigger, a bullet hit the polearm wielding Gem-Knight before it shattered into red sharts.

Finally, Igknight Lancer pointed his gatling gun arm and fired a lance straight towards Shinji. Shinji crossed his arms over his head as the lance struck his Duel Disk, pushing him back a few inches before he landed flat on his back in pain.

 **(Shinji: 4000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 3300)**

"Wait," said José. "Shinji had that face-down card...why didn't he use it to protect himself?"

"Because…" Shinji answered, sitting up. "It's not a card to protect me, it's a card that inflicts damage! I activate my Trap Card, Brilliant Spark!"

His card flipped over, revealing a diamond struck by three bolts lightning, shatting into three equal pieces.

"When a 'Gem-Knight' monster I control is destroyed by one of your attacks or card effect, I target one of them and inflict damage to your lifepoints equal to its attack strength. And the one I choose is Gem-Knight Zirconia, so say goodbye to 2900 lifepoints!"

The spirit of Gem-Knight Zirconia loomed over Panchito before it nosedived right onto the rooster, pounding him to the ground with both of its fists before fading away. Panchito groaned, gems circling his head as his lifepoints dropped.

 **(Shinji: 4000) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 400)**

"Hold up," said José. "Lady Brilliant Diamond had 3400 attack points; why couldn't Shinji use her instead?"

"Because Shinji's card works if a Gem-Knight monster was destroyed by either _my_ monsters or card effects," Panchito repeated, gathering his thoughts as he stood up. "It was destroyed as a consequence of _his_ Brilliant Fusion being sent to the bottom of his deck, so it doesn't count."

 _And it's a good thing too._ he thought. _I would've been a goner if that was the case._

"I'll end it with a face-down card and end my turn," said Panchito. "So...uh, how many Gem-Knight Fusion monsters do you have?"

Shinji raised his eyebrow. "How many Gem-Knight Fusion monsters do you want to fight?"

"Uh…"

"Don't answer that," Shinji answered as he played Graceful Charity. An angel in a light green tunic with matching green feathery wings appeared above Shinji's head. Three feathers fell from her wings as Shinji drew three cards and sent two to the grave.

"Since I played Gem-Knight Fusion last turn, I'll Banish another 'Gem-Knight' to get it back," he began.

The spirit of Gem-Knight Armadillo appeared before it faded away and Gem-Knight Fusion was in Shinji's hand one more time.

"Then, I play Pot of Acquisitiveness to return three of my Banished monsters back to my deck and draw one card."

A strange black two handled pot with green trim, and a large grinning face, with a blue tongue sticking out, appeared as Shinji returned his three Banished Gem-Knights into his deck. He then drew a card, giving him a hand of four.

"And now, one last time. I play Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Alexandrite, Gem-Knight Tourmaline and Gem-Knight Amber!"

Gem-Knight Fusion appeared for the fourth time as the spirits of three Gem-Knights - a white bodied Gem-Knight with multi-colored gems on his body, a yellow Gem-Knight with electricity formed on his fingertips, and another yellow Gem-Knight with small green horns and a red-hot blade in his hand - were sucked in. Three beams of light shone as Shinji raised his hands into the air.

" _Amber gem with the soft glow, gem tinged with lightning and gem with facets of day and night! In a whirlpool of light combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Supreme radiance who illuminates everything! Level 9! Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"_

Then, the lights transformed into a spectrum of colors as Shinji's monster rose onto the field. It was a massive warrior covered in armor fit for a king and covered with diamonds. In his right hand was a claymore with a black blade and seven gems, one for each color of the rainbow, set inside it. He lifted the sword towards Panchito, as if daring the Caballero to attack. (2900 ATK)

"So, he's like the boss monster of the Gem-Knights…" Panchito commented, not liking the rainbow backlight that shone behind Master Diamond.

"Correct," Shinji noted. "And in fact, Master Diamond gains 200 attack points for every 'Gem' monster in my graveyard. And to save you the math lesson, I have nine monsters ready and waiting to give Master Diamond their strength!"

Gem-Knight Master Diamond raised his gem-encrusted sword into the air as the spirits of nine monsters spun around him like planets in orbit before they burst into stars and faded away. (2900 -) 4700 ATK)

"This is the end!" said Hikari. "With just one slash of that blade, Master Diamond will cut through Panchito's monsters like...like…ugh!" she shook her head. "There's gotta be a better simile than 'a hot knife through butter'."

"How about 'like a diamond cuts glass?'" José suggested.

"Yeah, that's better!" Hikari exclaimed. She then cleared her throat and narrated, "With just one slash of that blade, Master Diamond will cut through Panchito's monsters like a diamond leaves its marks on glass!"

"Gem-Knight Master Diamond," Shinji began. "Attack Igknight Lancer and end this duel!"

Gem-Knight Master Diamond's sword began to glow, the gems on the blade blinking its respective color before swirls of colored light surrounded the blade. Then, Master Diamond charged into battle as Igknight Lancer began to sweat.

"Not so fast, _mi amigo_ ," Panchito smirked. "I play my face-down card, High Tide on Fire Island!"

His face-down card lifted, revealing what looked to be a battle. On one side, a large bird in a fiery aura and his cohorts stood on an island while in the sea, a large blue dragon was leading his troops to invade said island.

"I can only use this card if I have either a Level 7 or higher FIRE or WATER monster on the field," Panchito explained. "And Igknight Lancer is a Level 7 FIRE monster! Then, depending on if I have a FIRE or WATER monster, I can activate one of its two effects. And it just so happens that the FIRE effect lets me destroy one monster on the field, then I have to send a card in my hand to the graveyard."

"Wait, what?!" Shinji gasped.

Igknight Lancer roared, causing the ground to shake before a chasm opened underneath Master Diamond's feet. A large plume of magma rose and burned the Gem-Knight into nothing but metal slag and his brilliant sword before both shattered.

"T...that…" Hikari stammered as Panchito calmly placed a card in his hand to the graveyard. "That was Panchito's brilliant counterattack outta nowhere, folks! We've just witnessed an amazing turn of events, and with Shinji down to no cards in hand, it looks like this is the true end now!"

Shinji sighed as he waved his hand, signalling the end of his turn. Then, Panchito drew a card.

" _Lo siento_ ," he said. "But now, it's time for the finale! Igknights, attack one more time!"

Igknight Lancer and Igknight Templar recklessly charged into battle all while Shinji braced himself with his Duel Disk. Two swipes to the Duel Disk later, along with Shinji dropping to his knees, and the duel was over.

 **(Shinji: 0) - - - - - - - - (Panchito: 400)**

"Ya-hoo!" Panchito exclaimed, raising his sombrero into the air. "I did it! Victory is mine!"

"Congratulations, Panchito!" José cheered, hugging Panchito from behind. "If only Donald was here to see this."

"That was so amazing!" Yugo exclaimed. "I wanna duel those monsters next!"

"You gotta get in line," Haruka teased, jabbing Yugo in the chest with her elbow. "I'd like to see how he fights the Princess of Prophecy!"

"No fair you two!" Masato complained. "I wanna go first!"

As Panchito was showered with praise, Shinji gathered his cards and sighed, his spirits feeling a little bit lighter. As the audience began to disperse, he turned to Hikari who was still recording.

"Hikari," he began, concentrating on what to say in front of the camera.

"Hmm, what is it?" asked Hikari, tilting her head. She didn't like the look on his face. Was it because he was humiliated by a talking rooster or because said talking rooster used the types of monsters that caused his brother's death?

That subject of Reiji Shimbara's rise and fall was really sensitive, even if Reiji was trying to make attempts to visit his little brother more when he wasn't on Dark Signer duties. Even if Reiji would forever be stuck at the age of 17/18 while his brother would go on to grow up and have a family. It pained to imagine Shinji's children noticing their uncle forever seventeen while Shinji would grow old and one day pass on.

After ten seconds of silence, Shinji just smiled as he looked at Panchito talking to José and showing off his High Tide on Fire Island card. "I take back what I said about last night's duel. _This_ has been the craziest thing I've ever done."

Hikari smiled as she turned the camera around. "You heard it here first, folks! The White Rabbit Knight of the Moon Goddess and Panchito Pistoles has brought new life into the world of Duel Monsters.

"And thus, another duel ends in Domino City. Who knows what lies ahead tomorrow, what stranger things can happen, but the dawn of a new day and a new duel awaits us. Thank you for watching and see you when the sun rises once more at the _Dawn of the Duel_!"

Hikari then stopped the recording as she saw Haruka, Masato and Yugo approach her. Something was up. She didn't need to ask Haruka for a Tarot reading to know that something wicked this way comes.

"It's not time to meet up yet," she noted, looking at her watch. "What happened?"

"Well," Haruka began. "My Harpie Lady opponent said that Seto Kaiba brought him and his fellow 'Caballeros' to our world for training because Dark Signers are trying to flood other worlds in darkness and they're the only ones who can stop it."

"...Please tell me this is a joke," Shinji began, trying to ignore the glare in Yusei's eye before Yusei returned to talk with Panchito and José in regards to their adventures. From what Shinji was picking up, it had something to do with the "Nazca Dimension". "I mean, considering what we know about the Dark Signers in _our_ world and all…"

"I wish my sister was lying," Masato added. "And Kanata said that José's other friends are at the Thousand Pieces Café so…"

"Did any of them duel yet?" asked Hikari, looking at her camera.

Yugo nodded his head, eyes wide with excitement. "Yeah, Kanata said that she dueled Donald Duck! He was using Gagaga monsters and he nearly had the victory but -"

"Did you just say _Donald Duck_?!" Hikari screeched, recalling how José mentioned a 'Donald' in Panchito's wrestling story. "Hold on a second…"

She stuffed her camera into her bag, then pulled out her phone. After typing something into it, the search engine immediately brought up the results.

"I thought Panchito and José looked familiar…" she muttered. "They're _the_ Three Caballeros from that old Disney movie...but apparently they're legendary heroes in another world."

" _Descendants_ of legendary heroes, to be accurate," said José as he, Panchito and Yusei approached the four. "And speaking of Donald, is he doing okay?"

"Well, aside from a bruised ego and apparently having dozens of whiteboard marker lines hitting him in the tail, he'll be fine," said Haruka, staring at her phone. "But we definitely have to meet up with them to get some more answers about what's going on today. Ugh," She pinched the bridge of her nose. "And all I wanted to do was just have some time with grandma after the hell that was last night."

"Hell yeah we're going!" said Hikari. "I gotta get this footage ready for posting and maybe we'll get to see another epic duel featuring Donald Duck himself! Ooh, I have so many questions that need to be answered!" She then smirked at Haruka. "Especially about the chaos that _Chasing Shadows_ documented about last night."

"Well, about that…" said Haruka, noticing something on her phone. "I think we missed our chance about another epic duel with Donald Duck."

Hikari tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Haruka then showed her phone to everyone. There was now a video with the icon depicting Xandra with cards in hand. "Because it seems like Kanata just recorded an epic duel between a mannequin and the Goddess of Adventure."

"Goddess of Adventure?" Hikari repeated. "Oooh...color me curious."

"Color me 'not interested'," Shinji stated.

"Xandra got into a duel?" asked José. "I hope she's okay."

"We'll never know until we play the recording," said Panchito. "Come on! Let's see what happened!"

"We need to be careful, though," said Yusei, eyes darting around. "We're probably being watched."

This causes everyone else to shudder, but none more so than Yugo. For a moment, he thought he could hear someone calling out for him, but he brushed the thought aside. The last thing he needed was to go into "Berserker Dragon Mode" as Haruka nicknamed it.

Yusei looked down at his arm and watched as the mark of a spider appeared, colored violet. This caused Panchito and José to gasp.

"Y...you're just like…" Panchito stammered, before Yusei turned to the rooster, mirror lens glowing.

"Finish that sentence." Yusei stated, gritting his teeth. "I _dare you_."

When Panchito closed his beak, Yusei nodded his head and, for one second, the same spider sigil appeared on the ground before blinking out.

"W...what did you just do?" José asked.

"This spell I casted will prevent whatever 'outsiders' are here from noting our presence," Yusei answered, watching the spider mark on his arm vanish as if washed away by water. "They won't sense anything 'off' about us - instead, we are just one adult, four teens, a child, a Brazilian parrot and a Mexican rooster having fun at Kaibaland. Now then," he then turned to Haruka. "Shall we play a game?"

Haruka rolled her eyes as she turned her phone ninety degrees clockwise. Raising it into the air so everyone could have a better look, she pressed play.

* * *

" _I Understood That Reference!"_

" _Fight like those luchadors underground": Hikari is talking about the show "Lucha Underground" which can best be explained as a Mexican Urban Fantasy Soap Opera about wrestling that involves a war between the 7 Aztec Deities alongside the various feuds you'd see on other wrestling shows. (Fun fact: Rey Mysterio was in the show for Season 2 and 3!)_

" _They look like they're just finishing each other's sandwiches" - a reference to that famous song from Frozen, "Love is an open door."_

" _Panchito Pistoles" - Panchito's original name, but changed to the longer one due to Disney's avoidance of referencing guns._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _ **Next time: The Goddess of Adventure isn't going to be sitting on the sidelines any longer, and challenges Shotaro to a duel to prove why she was chosen to aid the Three Caballeros against the forces of evil. But against an unorthodox opponent like Shotaro, does Xandra have a chance?**_

" _ **Henshin Hero" coming soon.**_


	6. Henshin Hero

_**When I first met Donald, José, Panchito, I will be honest in that I didn't see anything spectacular in them.**_

 _ **You can't blame me - they tried to pawn me off to the enemy when we first met!**_

 _ **But getting to know them during the past year or so, all of their optimism, courage, honor, made me warm up to them. Like the family I never had.**_

 _ **I wanted to do all I can to help them on this mission; even with Lord Felldrake gone, there were others who needed our help. Seto Kaiba's words stirred something within me…**_

 _ **The sense of adventure.**_

 _ **There were other worlds to explore, and people who needed help. If these Dark Signers wanted to unleash their darkness onto others, they had another thing coming.**_

 _ **I was so curious about all of these worlds and the heroes that protected them, although I later learned that not**_ **all** _ **heroes were just like the Caballeros or Kaibaman…**_

 _ **In fact, my first ever dueling opponent that wasn't a duelist using Harpie Ladies was**_ **exactly** _ **like that certain dragon-helmed maniacal loon…**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **5th Sign**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Henshin Hero**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _About ten minutes after Haruka called Kanata…_

"And that's about it," Kanata finished, glaring at how Kiryu and the strange Kamen Rider (W or Double...was it?) were still fighting each other. They were now delivering good punches to the jaw, back and forth, trying to test the other's endurance. Xandra had helped Kanata drag Philip's unconscious body onto the table all while Yuri had an interesting chat with Donald about Donald's "other" best friends (Mickey was busy with a Go-Kart business and Goofy was working on a food truck with his son, Max) and Jester Eiji had decided to help Hanako out with preparing food for everyone. Honestly, this day couldn't get even _more_ bonkers than it already was. "So, what's the plan?"

"Just keep them there until we meet up at 1," Haruka answered back. "Yusei's leading us to the last Habanero..."

"Caballero," Kanata corrected.

"The last member of these Mexican Musketeers and it looks like Hikari and Shinji are also there too. Guess what's to come next?"

"The _Dawn of a Duel_?"

"Mm-hmm. Hopefully Panchito puts up a good fight since José was said to be the most experienced out of them."

"Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Talk to you later."

"You too."

Kanata hung up and placed her cellphone on the table. This...this was not how she expected the morning after reuniting with Yuri was supposed to go. Why couldn't she be like the trio of Tierno, Trova and Sana, who never have anything crazy/magical/supernatural/otherworldly ever happen to them? She bet her Time Thief cards that they probably were preparing a music video at Domino City Mall or the like, practically oblivious to the chaos that attracted her and her friends like catnip does to cats.

This was something Xandra noticed.

"So, Kanata," the Goddess began. "Does this normally happen?"

"Unfortunately," Kanata answered. "It's no _secret_ that Domino City attracts a lot of unwanted attention, and sometimes the things you wish to see just _doesn't want to show themselves._ "

At this, Yuri turned toward the lavender-haired girl and raised an eyebrow.

"Kanata," he began, clicking his teeth. "Why are you accusing me of keeping secrets from you when you have secrets of your own? Like your journey through Wonderland, for example?"

Kanata's eye twitched. "Secrets? For your information, me not telling you that I went to Wonderland a month ago isn't a secret...well, okay it _was_ to be kept secret but that's not the point!"

"What's the point then?" asked Jester Eiji, drinking a cup of coffee and relishing in this little lover's spat.

But neither Yuri nor Kanata were paying attention. Both of them are glaring at each other with enough hatred to melt a bowl of ice.

"You went frolicking around in Wonderland, following a white rabbit, having tea and playing croquet while I was _suffering_!" Yuri continued. "While I had to go through hell back in Domino Below!"

"I'm so _sorry_ that I couldn't contact you at the time," Kanata snapped. "But it's not _my_ fault that I had to go on a crazy mission from Kaibaman to free various people - including one of my closest friends who is hiding a lot of skeletons in his closet right now - the night before Alice Day! Seriously, I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of the various people my sister and I had to duel. Do you know what it's like to have to duel a member of Team Satisfaction in Wonderland?!"

"Oh, I have _plenty_ of experience with them," Yuri snarled, giving a sideways glance to Kiryu, who had just placed a pinky finger to his lips in a "blow-kiss" matter before grabbing Kamen Rider Double's arm in an attempt to rip it off its socket again.

"Yeah 'experience' in probably seeing them doing something _other_ than playing card games on motorcycles," Kanata snarked. "Millefeui had to duel _Jack Atlas_ and was face to face with his Red Archfiend Dragon that tore through all of her monsters like...like shredded lettuce!"

"Whoop de freaking doo," said Yuri, raising his pointer finger in the air making circles with it. "The same guy was the reason why I nearly lost Yugo."

" _Nearly_?"

Yuri huffed. "Long story. Probably something you _wouldn't be able to handle_."

At that, Kanata growled and slammed her hands on the table. "Oh this is sweet coming from the boy who doesn't reveal to my close friend that the same boy he kissed last week was actually his own _brother_ and that the two of you are actually the sons of the Supreme Dragon King Zarc! Wouldn't that have been nice to explain rather than her setting fire to the rain after seeing you hypnotize him with _the same pendulum I gave you six years ago_!"

It took only a millisecond for Kanata to realize what she just said and hastily placed her hands to her mouth all while everyone else stared at her in shock, horror or "I can't believe you just blurted that out in the open, girl!"

Then, Kamen Rider Double...burst into roaring laughter, clutching their stomach with their right hand.

"She just told everyone your deepest darkest secret!" He cackled, pointing at Yuri, watching the purple-haired boy also turning red. "You must be so _embarrassed_!" The rest was lost into another round of cackles. "Ooh, do me, do me, do me!"

Jester Eiji also cackled alongside his boss, but Donald looked at both Kanata and Yuri. Both of them looked like they were going to burst into tears and it was now a contest to see who was going to cry first, with Kanata looking like she had a toad just escape out of her mouth and Yuri on the verge of a mental breakdown as he gripped onto his pants and clenched his teeth.

Donald couldn't take this any more. Despite having that trip to Shangri-la to control his temper, this was a different matter altogether. This useless fighting had to stop.

So, he took a deep breath and screamed at the top of his lungs, raising his fists into the air before he leapt into battle to stop the fighting between Kiryu and Kamen Rider Double. The enraged duck used his fists and webbed feet to punch and kick the every living snot out of the two, with neither opponent unable to match the powerful blows that Donald was unleashing.

It was a good thing Donald was too enraged to even think about using his Caballero weapon against them. Who knew what an enraged Donald Duck with a scimitar could lead to.

As this went on, Xandra felt like her mind was spinning out of control. The fighting, the Dark Signers, this entire history between Kanata and Yuri, the porcelain doll with his knife, Donald losing his first ever duel and now trying to diffuse a fight the only way he knew how to...and here she was, unable to do anything.

"Does anyone want anything else?" asked Hanako, cheerfully oblivious of the tension in the air as she set a tray of poke bowls and taro fries onto the table.

And that simple question was enough for the Goddess of Adventure to snap.

"I. have had. ENOUGH!" Xandra screamed, slamming her hands on the table and causing Donald to fall onto his back in shock just as he was about to yank Kiryu's arm off. She pointed at Kamen Rider Double. "You have caused quite enough damage here and I don't trust your words in that you're 'waiting' for your 'little brother' and all. For all we know, you guys could be allied with the Dark Signers!"

When Kiryu stared at her, Xandra hastily added, "The _other_ Dark Signers. And _you_ have been absolutely unhelpful!"

"I'm saving your asses from this crackpot!" Kiryu exclaimed.

"You're not helping make sense as to what's going on in this world!" Xandra snapped. "And just look at them!"

She brought her arm out towards Kanata and Yuri, both of them already crying and hugging each other tight all while Hanako just took them into her arms.

"I'm so sorry!" Kanata exclaimed. "I shouldn't have such a thing. It's my fault for forgetting about you!"

"No, _I'm_ the one who's sorry!" Yuri replied. "I was so selfish! I only thought about myself and didn't think that you were still that concerned about me!"

"There, there you two," said Hanako, patting them on the heads. "It's all right, now. You two are back together, and nothing can separate you now."

"This isn't helping at all," said Xandra. "If we're going to be ready for the other Dark Signers or any of their allies, we have to stop fighting and...and…"

"And what?" asked Kamen Rider Double, taking those strange flash-drives out of his belt. The armor faded away, leaving a slightly battered Shotaro and Philip suddenly waking up from what seemed like a nightmare. Jester Eiji was already at Philip's side, questioning if his boss was okay.

Xandra looked down at her Duel Disk before she glared at Shotaro. "Duel me."

Shotaro tilted his head. "Pardon me?"

"I said, 'Duel me!'," Xandra repeated. "I'm not gonna sit around waiting for the next chaotic entity to show its ugly face. Plus, I need to get some dueling practice for when things _really_ hit the fan.

"So, how about it? Duel me, Shotaro!"

Shotaro tilted his head back and forth as he considered the outcome. Kiryu dragged Donald back to the table, the duck taking some deep breaths before he went and knocked someone's head off. There was some more silence before Shotaro grinned, exposing two rows of nails as he lifted his right arm into the air.

"Okay then," he said. "Let's have some fun!"

A strange mass of starry energy enveloped his arm before it coalesced into a Duel Disk that was half-green and half-purple. Xandra raised an eyebrow at the strange Duel Disk, but brushed the thought aside as she drew five cards. At that time, both Kanata and Yuri had finished crying and were wiping their tears away. Hanako just gave the two another hug before she returned to the food truck, smiling as if the last five minutes just didn't happen.

"Let's duel," Xandra snarled.

"Now then," said Shotaro, drawing his cards. "Count up your sins!"

 **(Xandra: 8000) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 8000)**

Kanata picked up her phone and set it to record the duel. If anything, she needed to at least have solid proof that a strange mannequin and the Goddess of Adventure dueled today (and was curious to see what people on _Chasing Shadows_ was going to react to this sort of thing).

"Permit me to go first," Shotaro stated, drawing his card. He added it to his hand and then smirked, before spitting a nail onto the ground. "I'll start by summoning Elemental Hero Solid Soldier in Defense Mode!"

Rising onto the field was a warrior in a maroon suit and pieces of armor that shone like silver. He had a helm with spikes at the back to resemble a bird, large oblong shields attached to his arms, and a large chestplate and boots that shined as if it had been polished for ten days straight. (1100 DEF)

"I'm not liking this," Kiryu muttered.

"What do you mean?" asked Donald, trying to hide a shudder when the silver haired teen gave the duck a dark-eyed glance.

"It's a bit of a no-brainer," Kiryu explained. "But if you must know, Shotaro's planning on…"

He didn't get a chance to speak when a a large black blade flew towards him, stopping just one centimeter away from stabbing him through the throat. This was caused by Philip pointing his whiteboard marker at the Dark Signer Enforcer, ready to draw another two, three, maybe four hundred lines if need be.

"Now, now," Philip stated, wagging a finger. "Why ruin the surprise?"

"...How old are you again?" asked Kiryu.

Philip tilted his head and began counting on his fingers, mumbling about "carrying the three, add the 1, multiply…" before he answered with a smirk, "16...17 at best. But due to my 'condition', I can live for a hundred years and still look so cute!"

"...I hate you," Kiryu muttered, crushing the black blade in his hand.

"When Solid Soldier is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon another 'Hero' monster from my hand," said Shotaro, mentally smirking at his partner's sass. "So I summon Elemental Hero Shadow Mist in Defense Mode!"

A dark fog materialized over Shotaro's side of the field, before a feminine figure the same color of the darkness emerged. She wore black body armor that covered all but her ivory face, displaying crimson eyes that glared at Xandra. Her hair was a bright blue color that seemed to resemble a stream of water, but it didn't move like it. (1500 DEF)

"I'll end my turn with two face-down cards, and then…" Shotaro chuckled as a large holographic card appeared behind his two monsters. "Let's see if the Goddess of Adventure is strong enough to play with the big boys!"

"We'll see indeed," Xandra growled, drawing her card. "First, I'll start by playing the Field Spell, Amazoness Village!"

A Field Spell appeared, depicting a blue haired and red ponytail Amazoness wielding spears inside their little village of grass-thatched roofs and walls made out of logs. The scenery of the Thousand Pieces food truck transformed into a replica of that same village.

"As long as this card is on the field," Xandra continued. "All 'Amazoness' monsters gain 200 attack points. Which is gonna be an added boost when I summon my Amazoness Paladin!"

With a cry, the first of Xandra's monsters appeared. She wore a off-white torn dress with a hood hiding her long blond hair, save for the very long forelocks sticking out. In her hands was a bloodied sword. (1700 ATK)

"Amazoness Paladin gains 100 attack points for every 'Amazoness' monster on the field, including herself!"

Amazoness Paladin readied her blade, narrowing her gaze at Shotaro's monsters. (1700 -) 2000 ATK)

"Now Amazoness Paladin, attack Solid Soldier!"

Amazoness Paladin let out a cry as she prepared to slice her opponent in half. But, Shotaro was calm.

"I activate my face-down card, Mask Change!" he declared.

His face-down card flipped, showing a red warrior with gold trim in a running stance, their face obscured. Then, a mask appeared in front of Elemental Hero Solid Soldier, radiating with power.

"I offer my monster and then I get to summon a 'Masked Hero' from my Extra Deck with the same Attribute! Let's go!"

Elemental Hero Solid Soldier took the mask into his hand and placed it over his face. Then, the earth began to quake as he transformed into a beam of light and Shotaro smirked.

" _White warrior with the unbreakable armor! Unleash a swansong with a dazzling fervor! Henshin! Masked Hero Dian!"_

With a loud cry, a warrior with silver armor with diamond insets rose onto the field, a blue cape draped over his shoulders and a sword in his right hand. The armor also had cyan trim and golden hoops around the shoulders, wrists and legs. (2800 ATK)

"W...wait a second!" Xandra stammered, looking at the display on her Duel Disk. She noticed that Shotaro's new monster had a purple border. "This...this is a Fusion Monster!"

"...So?" asked Shotaro, tilting his head.

"So?" Xandra repeated. " _So?!_ You can only Fusion Summon with Polymerization, not through some Quick-Play Spell! That's...that's…unfair!"

"Actually it's fair," said Yuri. "And in fact, there's other ways to fusion than just simple Polymerization."

"There is?" Donald gulped. He never thought learning to play Duel Monsters would be difficult.

Yuri nodded his head. "There are different types of Polymerization cards and some archetypes have their own _specific_ versions of Polymerization or you can go with Contact Fusion and there are monsters that can be used to Special Summon Fusion Monsters with a price."

"Tell me about it," Kanata noted. "I once dueled someone who ran Cyber Stein and trust me, you do _not_ wanna know what Fusion Monster he pulled out of his Extra Deck."

"Since the original target is gone, you get a return," says Shotaro. "So...care to attack again, Xandra?"

Xandra frowned. "Amazoness Paladin, destroy Shadow Mist!"

Amazoness Paladin rushed into battle, sword ready to cleave the Elemental Hero in half.

"I activate my face-down card, Hero Barrier!" Shotaro shouted. "With this card, I negate your attack on my Elemental Hero!"

His other face-down card flipped, revealing a fan spinning round and round, deflecting numerous lighting bolts. This type of shield appeared in front of Shadow Mist, blocking Amazoness Paladin's attack, much to her annoyance.

"Then it looks like I'll end my turn with a face-down card," Xandra grumbled, slipping a card into her Duel Disk. "Your turn."

"Indeed," Shotaro chuckled, drawing his card. "First, I'll start by playing Mask Change!"

Another copy of Mask Change appeared on the field as Xandra looked in confusion.

"Wait, you had a second Mask Change in your hand?" she said. "Why didn't you use it on your first turn?"

"If I did, it would've ruined the surprise!" Shotaro laughed. Then, he sighed and shook his head. "Let this be a lesson, Xandra-dear...your opponents are going to be hiding a lot of tricks up their sleeves. They aren't going to be as courteous as I am."

"That's a hundred percent true," Kanata agreed, glancing at Kiryu. She still had no idea how she survived that duel against him. How the hell does one deal with someone whose strategy relied on having no cards in their hand?

"And if I may continue," said Shotaro. "I'll send Shadow Mist to the grave!"

A mask appeared in front of Shadow Mist, the female hero taking into her hands before she jumped into the sky, covered in darkness.

" _Demonic warrior who fights for justice, unleash your savageness onto the battlefield! Henshin! Masked Hero Anki!"_

With a growl, the darkness dispersed as the new monster emerged. It looked quite monstrous with dull gold and red accents, a horn on its helmet and bronze scales. It slashed the air with its blood red talons. (2800 ATK)

"And here's where Shadow Mist's effect kicks in!" Shotaro added. "When she's sent to the graveyard, I can take a 'Hero' monster from my deck to my hand!"

A card popped out of his deck, which Shotaro took with a grin on his face.

"Then, I play one of my favorite Spell Cards. I play...Mask Charge!"

Shotaro slapped a card onto his Duel Disk, depicting a teenage boy with brown hair and a blue suit staring down at a red helmet on a control panel, unsure as to whether or not he should take the helm and become a hero.

"Oooh, that's gonna sting," Kiryu commented, munching on some taro fries.

"Why's that?" asked Donald.

Kiryu caught a blade that was about to piece his throat nonchalantly as he explained, "Because Shota is gonna use it to bring back a 'Hero' and a 'Change' Quick-play Spell Card from his graveyard into his hand."

He then crushed the long black line, the blade disintegrating into black motes of ink all while Philip pouted and Jester Eiji ready to use the little razor blade in his hand to pierce someone's eye out. Preferably Kiryu's, judging at how the Team Satisfaction leader eyed the porcelain doll.

"Ohhh…" Then Donald blinked. "WAITTAMINUTE!"

"Props to the duck, folks!" Shotaro chuckled, taking two cards into his hand. "Now I'll Summon Elemental Hero Solid Soldier once more! And with his effect, he'll let me Special Summon another 'Hero' monster from my hand like Elemental Hero….STRATOS!"

"NOT ELEMENTAL HERO STRATOS!" Kanata, Yuri, Donald and Kiryu shouted.

"...Uh...what's Elemental Hero Stratos?" said Donald.

"Only the most reviled of the Nature based Elemental Heroes!" Kanata exclaimed. "The moment that thing is summoned, Xandra is either going to have to worry about what Hero monster Shotaro's pulling out of his hat or she's losing every Spell and Trap Card she has on the field for every 'Hero' monster Shotaro controls."

"Ohhh…" Donald stated. "OH NO!"

Elemental Solid Soldier rose to the field once more (1100 DEF) accompanied by a new Elemental Hero with blue armor, a silver helmet and a pair of wings powered by two wind turbines. (1800 ATK)

"I honestly see nothing special about him," Xandra observed.

"You'll be eating those words soon enough," Shotaro muttered, taking a card from his deck into his hand. "And now, Masked Hero Dian...attack Amazoness Paladin!"

Masked Hero Dian raised his gleaming sword into the air before performing three slashes that glimmered like diamonds. They cut through Amazoness Paladin, the poor warrior unable to scream before she shattered into dust.

 **(Xandra: 7200) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 8000)**

"And when Dian successfully sends a monster to the graveyard, I get to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower 'Hero' monster from my deck onto the field!" Shotaro added. "And I choose Elemental Hero Ocean!"

Rising from a pillar of water was a strange blue and white humanoid with a dorsal fin topping his head, silver armor around his legs, and his weapon being a silver staff topped with a crescent blade. (1500 ATK)

"You're not the only one capable of summoning monsters from your deck," Xandra snarled. "I activate the effects of Amazoness Village! Should an 'Amazoness' monster be destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon another 'Amazoness' whose level was less than or equal to the one destroyed. Amazoness Paladin was Level 4, I can now summon Amazoness Swords Woman to take her place."

She whistled and a woman with wild carrot-colored hair and wearing nothing more than a leather bikini and sandals appeared, sword ready. (1500 ATK)

"Of course," Yuri muttered. "She's playing it safe with _that_ Amazoness."

Xandra ignored the comment as she continued, "And next, I activate my face-down card, Pride of the Tribe!"

Her face-down card lifted, revealing a blue haired Amazoness standing on a rocky cliffside with the full moon behind her.

"This card works exactly like Amazoness Villager, except there's no level limit stopping me. So I'll use it to Special Summon Amazoness Queen from my deck!"

Emerging from the Trap Card was a blue-haired Amazoness, wearing a tan colored bikini top and skirt decorated with teeth. She wore wraps around her feet and elaborate decorations covering her legs. In her hands was a sword with a curved hilt covered with spikes. (2400 ATK)

"Ooh, classic combo," said Jester Eiji. "Now the Boss can't use his monsters to destroy those Amazons in battle."

"You'll have to go through Amazoness Queen before you can even touch the rest of my lifepoints," said Xandra.

"...But what if I don't have to?" asked Shotaro. "Masked Hero Anki...attack directly with Acid Blast!"

"What?!" Xandra shouted.

Masked Hero Anki began to inhale, his body glowing with a purple aura as Xandra realized something.

"Wait a minute!" Xandra exclaimed. "There's got to be some sort of catch!"

"There is," Shotaro replied. "If Anki attacks directly, his attack score is halved."

Just like Shotaro said, Anki's stats dropped. (2800 -) 1400 ATK) But that still didn't stop Anki from firing a dark blast of smog right into Xandra's face. Xandra coughed a bit as her lifepoints fell.

 **(Xandra: 5800) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 8000)**

"You're still standing," Shotaro noted. "Oh well. Guess I'll end my turn by playing two cards face-down."

Xandra clicked her teeth, drew her card then looked at it. Then, an idea formed in her mind.

"I summon Amazoness Princess in Attack Mode!"

With a cheerful yelp, a young girl, no older than 12, leapt onto the field. She had dark skin and white hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a red top decorated with a skull, red shorts with a purple fur wrap on top of it and a headdress consisting of a red-yellow triangle pattern headband topped with buffalo horns. In her right hand, she carried a spear with a large, curved spearhead and decorated with a skull. (1200 -) 1400 ATK)

"When Amazoness Princess is summoned, I get to add an 'Amazoness' Spell or Trap card from my deck to my hand. And the card I choose is...Amazoness Spellcaster!"

Shotaro and Philip gasped when the Spell Card was played, and so did Shotaro's monsters.

"When this card is played, I choose one monster that we control and have their original attack scores swapped! So now, I swap the attack scores of Amazoness Princess with that of Masked Hero Anki!"

The image of a grizzled woman surrounded by numerous symbols flashed before the stats of Masked Hero Anki and Amazoness Princess changed.

 _(Anki: 2800 -) 1200 ATK, Amazoness Princess: 1400 -) 2800 -) 3000 ATK)_

"That's...bad," Shotaro commented.

"What was your first clue?" Kanata commented.

"Now I attack!" said Xandra. "Amazoness Princess, aim your spear at Masked Hero Anki!"

Amazoness Princess brought her arm back, then flung her spear towards Masked Hero Anki, striking the Fusion monster right at his heart before he shattered.

 **(Xandra: 5800) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 6400)**

"Amazoness Swords Woman, unleash your bladed fury at Masked Hero Dian! Amazoness Slash Attack!"

Amazoness Swords Woman rushed into battle, sword ready as Masked Hero Dian readied his own weapon.

"Wait!" said Donald. "Amazoness Swords Woman is weaker than Masked Hero Dian!"

Xandra smirked. "But Amazoness Swords Woman's ability means that any battle damage I would've taken is inflicted onto Shotaro instead! And since Amazoness Queen's effect prevents the destruction of Amazoness monsters in battle, my Swords Woman lives to fight another day!"

The two warriors clashed weapons, but Masked Hero Dian grunted as he was pushed back a few inches.

 **(Xandra: 5800) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 5300)**

"My Masked Hero is gone, but there's always more heroes ready to join in! I play my face-down card...Hero Signal!"

Shotaro's first face-down card lifted, depicting a city at night with a signal of a large 'H' shown in the sky.

"Since a monster I controlled was destroyed, I get to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower 'Elemental Hero' from my hand or deck! And the one I choose is my second Elemental Hero Shadow Mist!"

The same signal appeared on the ground before a second copy of Shadow Mist appeared, crouching in defense. (1500 DEF)

Xandra snarled as she watched Shotaro take _another_ "Change" card into his hand before pointing at Elemental Hero Stratos. "Amazoness Queen, suck the wind out of him now!"

Amazoness Queen charged into battle, sword ready to send Stratos all the way into the stratosphere.

"Not so fast," Shotaro exclaimed. "Face-down card, Mask Change!"

For the third time this duel, the Quick-play Spell Card emerged. This time, Elemental Hero Stratos glowed with power before he was obscured by a large tornado.

" _Stand tall and form a mighty gale that knocks my opponent off of their feet!"_ Shotaro chanted. " _Henshin! Masked Hero Blast!"_

A large gust of wind blew across the field as the tornado subsided. The Masked Hero wore streamline green armor with black segments, a helm similar to that of a grasshopper and a long red scarf that billowed in the wind. (2200 ATK)

"And when Masked Hero Blast is summoned, he cuts the attack score of one monster you control in half! Masked Hero Blast go after Amazoness Queen!"

" _Toh!"_ Masked Hero Blast chanted as he commanded the winds to swirl round Amazoness Queen, causing her to drop to her knees in pain. (2600 -) 1300 ATK)

"I may not be able to destroy your newest Masked Hero," Xandra snarled. "So I'll just redirect the attack! Amazoness Queen, set your sights on Elemental Hero Solid Soldier!"

Amazoness Queen stood up and turned to Solid Soldier. One swipe of her sword later, and the Elemental Hero was destroyed.

"I'll end my turn with two face-down cards," said Xandra, placing two cards into her Duel Disk. "Any last words before you draw?"

"I have a few," Shotaro chuckled. "Masked Hero Blast, blow this village down!"

Masked Hero Blast raised his hands into the air as the village began to shake. Then, a humongous tornado formed in the center of the field, causing the houses to be blown away with a huge _WHOOSH_ that caused a bowl of spicy tuna poke to smack into Donald's face. Donald took a napkin to wipe off the spicy mayo drenched tuna off his face as the wind subsided.

 **(Xandra: 5800) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4800)**

"Huh?!" asked Xandra, seeing the village landscape fade away. "W...what did you just do?"

Shotaro laughed. "It's Masked Hero Blast's special ability! Once during either of our turns, I can pay 500 lifepoints to return one of your Spell or Trap cards back into your hand! Isn't that fun?"

"Fun for you maybe," Xandra stated. "But this duel isn't over, not by a long shot!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"All right, just a few more seconds…"

This was what street artist Tracey Sketchit muttered as he took his pencil to a large piece of paper, getting the faces of the couple in front of him just right. There was the man in the blue vest with a face that would make any girl swoon, and his partner, a woman with golden hair braided and decorated with a myriad of flowers. They looked like they emerged out of a fairy tale illustration!

And that was what made Mokuba suspicious.

He had been shadowing the couple for quite some time, usually sitting at a bench and looking at his phone to avoid suspicious. From how he observed them - from how they tasted cotton candy, went on a ride on the roller coaster and taking in all the lights and sounds - they acted looked...off. Not in the way that they were acting for some sort of video or play, or even role-play for that matter, but it was the type of acting one did in order to be "natural".

And clearly, these two were anything _but_ natural.

Tracey finished his sketch a minute or two later and showed it to the couple, proud of his work. The man tilted his head back and forth, trying to find the words to describe the sketch.

"This...this is…" he stammered, staring at the self-portrait.

"Hmm?" The girl with the flowers in her hair asked. "Flynn...are you okay?"

"This is...BEAUTIFUL!" Flynn exclaimed, showing the picture to the girl. "He even got my nose right and everything!"

"It is!" The girl gasped before poking her partner in the nose. "We should give this artist something in return!"

"Oh no, no," said Tracey, dismissing payment with a wave of his hand. "I'm just glad that you love it."

"But we insist!" said the girl. "Here, take this."

She plucked one of the flowers stuck inside her magnificent braid, a black lily, and placed it into Tracey's open hand.

"I hope this gives you inspiration for even more sketches," the girl said sweetly. "Come on, Flynn! Let's try those revolving horses!"

"All right, all right," said Flynn, being dragged off toward the carousel. "As you wish, princess."

The girl waved goodbye to Tracey, who twirled the flower in his hand for a few seconds before he stuck it into his shirt pocket before he began another sketch. And it was at this point that Mokuba decided to stop looking at his phone and follow those two.

 _Something is up..._ he thought to himself. This was the fourth or fifth person he's observed that has received those strange flowers. He could feel it in his very soul; dark magic was at work here.

He pulled out his cellphone and called a number. Unfortunately, he was left with the answering machine.

" _Phantom Investigator Serena here, I may be away but do not fear! Please leave a message after the beep, and I'll make sure to take care of monsters that would invade your sleep."_

Perfect. Mokuba sighed as he went through his contact list but paused. No. He wasn't going to ask his friends for help on this mission.

Scratch that, he wouldn't ask his _human_ friends for help.

He sighed as he withdrew into the darkest recesses of his mind, calling upon the demons who called him their Master. He then opened his eyes, revealing crimson pupils hidden behind ebony bangs.

 _Demons who reside in the Burning Abyss._ He commanded. _Follow those two vessels of darkness and report to me as to the true nature of those flowers._

 _ **And what about you?**_ The voice of Malacoda echoed in his mind. _**To put yourself out in the open would be detrimental to the dear Prince of the Burning Abyss.**_

Mokuba frowned before he pulled out a card from his Extra Deck. He looked around before finding a changing room. He quickly raced into it, pulled the curtain and smirked. _Not if I'm in disguise._

A cluster of six stars surrounded him before they turned into three green rings that floated above his head before descending all the way down to his feet. His normal blue/teal striped shirt, jeans, sneakers and yellow vest were now replaced with that with the costume of a bard. He wore a large hat decorated with a red strip of cloth and a white feather. His vest and shirt was now a white and black tunic while a long red scarf with a diamond pattern wrapped around his waist like a belt. A white satchel with tan lining was strapped to his side, and his jeans were now maroon and magenta striped pants. In his hands was a large lute gilded with golden swirls and blue flames.

 _ **I see...I see!**_ Malacoda purred. _**This should work out nicely.**_

Mokuba nodded his head as he walked out of the changing room, pretending to look about and pluck a few notes on his lute. Some people took note of the strange troubadour, but otherwise, he was just one of many street performers who came to Kaibaland trying to find an audience and some cash.

A part of him wondered if it was okay to be all by himself even when his brother said to go this friends. Except, as he noticed when he tried calling everyone an hour ago, they were all busy.

To him, they were _always_ busy.

He brushed the thought out of his mind as he looked at that flower. Something about that particular flower made his skin crawl..but what?

Mokuba drew five cards from the deck on his Duel Disk and stared at them. Then, to only him, five demons rose from the shadows, waiting for their next command.

 _Alich, Cagna, Farfa, Graff, Scarm._ Mokuba stated in his best commanding voice. _Search throughout Kaibaland for any more of those flowers, that couple or..._ he paused. _If you see my friends. Report back to me as soon as you can and_ do not _expose yourself before I give you the command._

 _ **We shall see to it, Prince of the Burning Abyss.**_ Farfa replied. _**Wait for us until then.**_

The five fiends disappeared into mist that, to others, felt like a cold chill falling down their spines. Mokuba proceeded on his little walk, playing a little ditty on the lute and singing,

" _Are you going to Scarborough Fair?_

 _Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme_

 _Remember me to one who lives there_

 _For she once was a true love of mine…"_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Shotaro drew his card then tilted his head back and forth like a see saw. Thanks to the Double Driver attached to his waist, he was able to communicate with Philip through a mental link.

" _So, Philip,"_ Shotaro began. " _Do you sense anything strange here? Eh, Philip?"_

" _Sorry,"_ Philip answered. " _I'm busy doing a lookup on this world, and this place has a history of supernatural activity."_

" _Does it tell me anything on how to beat Xandra?"_

" _No, but there are plenty of interesting ladies we should check out later."_

" _Is there anything that's actually_ interesting _around here?"_

" _Well, there is that -"_

"Excuse me!" said Xandra, waving an arm in the air to get Shotaro's attention. "We have a duel to finish, remember?"

Shotaro snapped out of his mental conversation before he looked at his hand. "Oh, right. Sorry, just had a few mental images that I had to get out of my head."

Kiryu raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What type of images?"

"Oh, these are types that would drive even the most normal individual mad!" Shotaro answered. "Crawling, massive shadows and souls writhing in agony as they are about to be devoured by a serpent, their sense of being slowly decaying inside the serpent's belly as they traverse through darkness and mirrors in search of even more souls to devour! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Sounds like a party to me," Kiryu grinned. "Invite the four of us next time!"

" _Four of you_?" asked Donald, not liking the sound of that.

"Me, Yusei, Crow and Jack," said Kiryu, counting the names on his fingers. "We have a wild time especially when we're in -"

He never got to finish that sentence when Kanata slammed a bronze gauntlet on top of his head.

"Back to the duel please?" she said, pointing to her phone still recording the duel. "I'd rather not have something _private_ about you guys coming out."

This caused a laugh from Shotaro and Philip, all while Donald and Xandra looked in confusion. Yuri just gave a look that stated, "Don't ask.".

After Shotaro calmed down, he then pointed to one of the monsters on his field. "On my Standby Phase, Elemental Hero Ocean's effect activates!" he said. "I can take an 'Elemental Hero' that I control or in my graveyard back into my hand. Guess who?"

A card popped out of his graveyard and, with a grand flourish, Shotaro showed it to the audience.

"OH COME ON!" Xandra exclaimed. "Not Solid Soldier _again_!"

"Yes, Solid Soldier!" Shotaro cackled. "Then, I'll use Polymerization to fuse it and Elemental Ocean for a brand new Hero! Are you ready?"

"No!" Xandra answered.

"Too bad, Fusing Time!" Shotaro screeched, slapping the Spell Card onto his Duel Disk.

The purple and blue swirling vortex manifested as the spirit of Elemental Hero Solid Soldier merged with that of Elemental Hero Ocean.

" _Hero of the rising tide teaming up with the hero with an unbreakable spirit! Bring forth the powers of the icy deep and unleash a raging storm of frozen fury! Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Absolute Zero!"_

Riding on an iceberg was a snow-white hero, with flared shoulders like icicles. A white cape flared out as he flexed his arms, revealing strange curved blades on the back of his gloves. (2800 ATK)

"Next," Shotaro continued. "I play Elemental Hero Blazeman in Defense Mode!"

Four small fireballs circled Elemental Hero Absolute Zero as the next Hero emerged. It wore white armor with a red chestplate and black pants. He also wore a red helm with a fiery mane. Attached to his back were five bomb-like drones with thin spindly robotic arms. (1800 DEF)

"Then, I'll pay another 500 lifepoints to have Masked Hero Blast fling a face-down card back to your hand. Let's see…"

Shotaro pointed to the cards left and right like a metronome. "Eeny meeny miney mo, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers let him go...eeny meeny miney...MO!"

Masked Hero Blast crossed his arms over his chest before he thrust them forward. Another gust of wind struck the card on Shotaro's left (Amazon Archers) before it flew back into Xandra's hand.

 **(Xandra: 5800) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4300)**

"Now Elemental Hero Absolute Zero, attack with Instant Freeze!"

Absolute Zero brought his hands out as cold wave of icy water rose into the air, ready to swallow Amazoness Princess whole and submerge her into its icy depths.

"Not so fast!" said Xandra. "I activate Amazoness Substitution!"

Her face-down card flipped over, revealing Amazoness Paladin and Amazoness Fighter about to face off against a horde of monsters.

"Since you targeted one of my 'Amazoness' monsters, I get to swap it for one whose Level is 4 or lower in my hand. Then, you have no choice but to target that one! So Amazoness Princess, return and let Amazoness Fighter take the blow!"

Amazoness Princess vanished and in her place was an Amazoness with her long black hair tied into a ponytail that ended at her waist. Her muscled body was adorned in a green and yellow outfit all while she punched a fist into her palm with delight. (1500 ATK)

"Oh," Shotaro pouted. "Her."

Before Donald could open his beak, Yuri explained, "If Amazoness Fighter gets involved in a fight, Xandra takes no damage involved."

"Ohh…"

Absolute Zero unleashed his frozen tidal wave against Amazon Fighter, the rugged warrior crossing her arms across her face to defend herself. Despite the onslaught, she still stood her ground.

"I still have another attack!" Shotaro shouted. "Masked Hero Dian, attack Amazoness Queen!"

The EARTH Masked Hero leapt into battle, sword above his head. Amazoness Queen (1100 ATK) lifted her massive sword to block the attack, although Xandra winced at the damage she took.

 **(Xandra: 4100) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4300)**

"And you next Masked Hero Blast! God save the Queen!"

The WIND Masked Hero thrust his arms forward and a large gale of wind hit Amazoness Queen, knocking her on her back but not destroying her.

 **(Xandra: 3000) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4300)**

"And then, I'll end this with two cards face-down," Shotaro finished, reducing his hand from six to four. "Now, care to tell me how you're going to turn this around?"

 _In truth, I have no idea!_ Xandra thought as she drew her card. _Amazoness Fighter can withstand the attacks, but Amazoness Queen won't be able to take hits forever! And just putting Amazoness Queen in Defense Mode won't do anything to help._ She sighed. _If only I had a way to make her even stronger…_

"I play Graceful Charity!" Xandra announced. "I draw three new cards then discard two to my graveyard."

The angel in green appeared above Xandra's head and shed a few feathers as Xandra took three cards to her hand, then sent two to the grave. Her eyes widened at what she drew.

 _When did I put_ this _in my deck?_ She thought. _What the heck am I supposed to do with…_

She then looked up and saw Amazoness Queen turn her head towards her, the blue-haired Amazoness nodding her head. Xandra just stared in bewilderment and confusion before it hit her.

 _Wait...I think I just got a brilliant idea!_

"You like fusions, Shotaro?" said Xandra. "Well then, time to give you a taste of your own medicine! I play...Polymerization!"

"Huh?"

"What?!"

"Fusion?!"

The reactions from Kanata, Yuri and Jester Eiji didn't help. Shotaro could only wince at what type of monster Xandra was about to summon.

"I'm going to fuse Amazoness Queen and Amazoness Swords Woman to bring out the true ruler of the Amazoness clan!" said Xandra. "Let's go, girls!"

Amazoness Queen and Swords Woman held hands before they melded into two beams of light that spun round and round before combining into one. Then, Xandra crossed her arms over her chest.

 _"Queen of the jungle. Receive the power of the valiant swords-woman and build an empire that rules over everything! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 8! Amazoness Empress!"_

Then, the proud Amazoness Fusion emerged, body covered in red vertical lines, her white hair sticking out and topped with a horned skull. Her left shoulder was covered by the skull of a saber-tooth tiger, and she also wore a green bikini top, olive green skirt and shin guards covered with turquoise. Draped over her shoulders was a crimson cape and in her right hand was a massive grey sword with spikes jutting out of the blade. (2800 ATK)

"My Amazoness Empress gains the power of Amazoness Queen," Xandra began. "Not only are 'Amazoness' monsters on the field not destroyed in battle, they also can't be destroyed by card effects!"

Shotaro gulped as Amazoness Empress bared her teeth in a tiger-like grin.

"Next, I play Ego Boost! I'll increase my Empress's attack by 1000 for this turn!"

The Quick-play Spell of a small monster protected by a yellow image of itself flashed over Amazoness Empress, who raised her sword into the air. (2800 -) 3800 ATK)

"That's nice and all," Shotaro observed. "But it's still one monster versus three. Plus, just because she can't be destroyed, it doesn't mean she can stop me from inflicting damage onto her on my next turn.

Xandra smirked. "That's only if they're _still_ standing."

"...huh?"

Xandra chuckled. "I activate the second ability of Amazoness Call! I'll Banish it from my graveyard to let Amazoness Empress attack each and every one of your monsters this turn! And don't think you can just hide in Defense Mode either; she can inflict piercing damage too!"

Amazoness Empress let out a war cry as she eyed Shotaro's Masked Hero monsters, sweat falling down their foreheads.

"Not bad," said Kiryu, clapping his hands. "Not bad at all."

"Now Amazoness Empress, attack with Amazoness Savage Strike!" Xandra commanded.

Amazoness Empress leapt into battle and began to shred through the Masked Heroes with a single swipe of her sword. Masked Hero Blast's head was chopped off, Masked Hero Dian's arm was cut before Amazoness Empress stabbed him straight through the heart and then cleaved Absolute Zero in half, all with a grin on her face.

 **(Xandra: 4100) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 400)**

 _Not good..._ said Shotaro, looking at how Elemental Hero Absolute Zero was sent to the graveyard. _With Amazoness Empress on the field, Absolute Zero's abilities are null and void. This...sucks._

"Amazoness Empress, go after Shadow Mist!" said Xandra.

Shadow Mist gulped as the Amazoness Fusion Monster readed her blade. Shadow Mist cried out and closed her eyes.

"I activate…Draining Shield!" Shotaro shouted.

His card lifted, revealing Marauding Captain blocking an attack from an opposing monster.

"This card negates your attack and then I receive lifepoints equal to that monster's attack points! Thanks for that, Xandra! I needed the energy boost."

Xandra frowned as a barrier covered Shadow Mist all while Shotaro exhaled, filled with more energy.

 **(Xandra: 4100) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4200)**

"I still have one more attack!" said Xandra. "Amazoness Empress, put out Elemental Hero Blazeman!"

"Oh no you don't!" said Shotaro, just as Amazoness Empress readied her sword. "I play my other face-down card, Slip of Fortune!"

His other card flipped, revealing a red and black monster attacking a blue figure upon a blue and red galactic space. Just as Amazoness Empress was about to slice her opponent, Elemental Hero Blazeman vanished.

"Huh?!" Xandra exclaimed. "Where did he go?"

Shotaro chuckled, shoulders shaking before he lifted his head and cackled. "Since you declared an attack, I can both negate said attack _and_ Banish my monster until the next Standby Phase! Sorry, but it seems like fate has other plans!"

Xandra grit her teeth as she placed one card face-down. "Make your move."

"Indeed I will," said Shotaro, drawing his card. "And now, my Elemental Hero Blazeman reignites!"

The fiery Elemental Hero returned, dropping to one knee. (1800 DEF)

"And then, I play Miracle Fusion!"

Shotaro played the card, depicting a large 'H', one side red and the other side blue, and two swirls of energy in the middle.

"There's a Fusion card other than Polymerization?!" Xandra and Donald shouted.

"That's correct!" Shotaro laughed. "And unlike normal Polymerization, I can Banish 'Hero' materials from my graveyard to summon my monster. So for this, I will Banish Masked Hero Anki and Blast to unleash a monster with a familiar face!"

The spirits of the Masked Heroes appeared to the left and right of Shotaro before they were sucked into the Spell Card. Then, swirls of white and black energy spun the card round and round as Shotaro chanted.

" _Masked hero with a demonic face and masked hero who rides with the wind! Within this miracle, bring a masked avenger into a new form! Henshin! Contrast Hero Chaos!"_

In a pillar of light, the newest monster emerged, with armor that was half-black with a horn jutting out on the shoulder on its right and half-white on its left with two scarves that matched the color scheme. It had two blue eyes and a matching blue crystal on its forehead and small horns jutting out of its forehead. In his right hand was a silver knife. (3000 ATK)

"It kinda looks like Kamen Rider Double," Kanata noted.

"It's actually based on our FangJoker form," Philip explained, hastily doodling a chibi version of Contrast Hero Chaos. "However, the colors are swapped. Here, this is what the real thing should look like."

He scribbled in the right side of his drawing and soon the hero hopped to life before leaping onto Donald's head and jumped up and down like it was trying to squish a cockroach.

"Hey! Quit it!" Donald grumbled, throwing the drawing onto the table. The doodle shook his head before trying to take a few steps forward, all while Philip chuckled.

"Contrast Hero Chaos has a nifty effect," said Shotaro. "Once per turn, I can negate the effects of one monster on the field so...your mighty Empress has just fallen like a house of cards! AHAHAHAHAHAAA!"

A black and white aura enveloped Amazoness Empress, causing the mighty warrior to groan in pain as it felt like she could even lift her sword.

 _That's bad!_ Xandra thought. _Not only is she capable of being destroyed now, but I won't be able to summon Amazoness Queen back to the field!_

"That's not all," said Shotaro, showing a card. "Here's the regular Polymerization for even more fantastical fusing fun!"

"NO!" Xandra groaned all while Elemental Hero Shadow Mist and Blazeman held hands before forming two swirls of black and red energy.

" _Hero with a blazing heart and dark lady who fades into the mist! Fuse your powers together and unleash the powers of the shadows! Fusion Summon! Elemental Hero Escuridao!"_

With a burst of darkness, the newest monster appeared. It...well, _it_ was a strange black winged being that looked like Elemental Hero Shadow Mist decided to dress up like a Rorschach test with large black wings that resembled a pair of scissors, a left hand sharp enough to slice someone's head clean off and a right hand that morphed into a three blade weapon that spun round and round, ready to unscrew someone's head off. The hero's red eyes glared at Xandra's Amazoness monsters, ready to submerged them into a dark nothingness. (2500 ATK)

"What type of ability does he have?" Xandra asked, absolutely getting tired with the constant Fusions popping out like gophers. "Destroy all my monsters? Inflict damage to my lifepoints? Make me discard cards from my hand?"

"No, no, and triple no!" Shotaro answered. " _She_ has the ability to gain power for every 'Hero' monster in my grave!"

"SHE?!" Xandra and Donald repeated.

"Yep! She! My lady of the shadows gains 100 Attack Points for every 'Hero' in the graveyard.  
Shotaro then turned to his partner. "Say, Philip...how many monsters are resting there? Philip? Hey, Philip!"

Philip, whose nose was stuck in his blank black book, shot out of his seat in alarm, falling on his butt in pain. Yuri cackled before he was met with a very sharp black line just inches away from his forehead.

"Don't forget that I can easily cut your pretty little head off," Philip smirked, revealing his nail teeth. Yuri silently nodded his head as Philip pulled out his pen. "Now...how many monsters were there again?"

He began making tally marks in the air, adding five, taking one and throwing it at Kiryu - who dodged it by moving his head to the right - and throwing another three at Donald - who squawked in annoyance- before adding a few more. He then counted the marks and answered, "Seven."

"Lucky seven it is!" said Shotaro watching Escuridao's attack raise to 3200. "But first...Contrast Hero Chaos, attack with Chaotic Wild Slash!"

Contrast Hero Chaos spun round and round before firing his knife at Xandra's monster. It struck right at Amazoness Empress's heart, causing her to explode.

 **(Xandra: 3900) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4200)**

"You're next, Escuridao! Dark Diffusion!"

Escuridao cried out as waves of darkness undulated around her. She then hurled the attack towards Xandra, who looked panicked until she noticed her face-down card.

"My Amazoness Empress may be gone, but her legacy lives on!" Xandra shouted. "I activate...Amazoness Willpower!"

Her card lifted, revealing a haggard and exhausted Amazoness Paladin gripping onto her sword, ready to fight despite her condition.

"I get to bring back an 'Amazoness' in my graveyard in Attack Mode. Can you guess who I'm bringing back?"

With a cry, Amazoness Queen rose onto the field once again. (2400 ATK) The dark waves from Escuridao struck the blue-haired queen, but she stood tall, even as Xandra lost lifepoints.

 **(Xandra: 3100) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 4200)**

"Ah," said Shotaro, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess that's all I can do. So, I will have to give it to you."

Xandra frowned as she drew her card.

"I play Card of Sanctity," she said. "Now we both draw until we have six cards."

Coins poured down on the duelists as both Shotaro and Xandra drew their cards. Shotaro only had to draw two cards while Xandra had to draw five. But as she looked at her cards, Xandra sighed.

 _Amazoness Empress was good, but what do I do now?_ She thought. _I mean, it's not like I can just make_ another _Fusion out of thin air…_

Just then, an image flashed into her mind. That of a brave tiger unleashing a loud roar. Xandra looked at her hand once more and noticed a tiger in her hand.

 _Are you...trying to tell me something?_ She asked the card.

The growl of a tiger was her only reply. Xandra smiled.

 _Okay then. What do I have to lose? Now, all I need is another Polymerization...oh wait, this card will help!_

"I play the Spell Card Fusion Recovery!" She announced. "Now I get back one 'Polymerization' and a Fusion Material from my graveyard!"

She slapped the card onto her Duel Disk, the card depicting one of the orange creatures the Polymerization card emerging out of said card in a blue-black vortex. Two cards popped out of her graveyard that she added to her hand.

"Oh?" asked Jester Eiji, tossing his little knife into the air before catching it between two fingers. "Are you bringing back Amazoness Empress again?"

Xandra smirked. "Something even better. I play Polymerization to fuse the Amazoness Tiger in my hand and Amazoness Fighter on the field to bring out a brand _new_ Amazoness Fusion!"

She played the fusing Spell Card as the spectral figure of a large tiger with a spiky gold collar around his neck fused with Amazoness Fighter. Xandra crossed her arms over her chest once more.

 _"Wild beast of the jungle with vicious fangs. Obtain the spirit of the dominant fighter, become a new savage beast and appear! Fusion Summon! Come before us! Level 7! Amazoness Pet Liger!"_

With a savage roar that managed to make Donald jump into the air, the beast appeared. It was twice the size of a regular tiger with off-white colored fur and a single crimson eye glaring at Shotaro. The other eye was closed shut with a massive scar as the only hint as to what happened to it. It also wore navy blue battle armor with golden trim and massive spikes on the sides, its paws had massive red and gold spiked cuffs and it had a goldenrod mane and fluff on its tail. It opened its mouth, unleashing another roar that exposed two rows of teeth that could swallow Shotaro whole. (2500 ATK)

"Not bad…" Shotaro commented. "But your little kitty is still weak against my monster."

"Not for long," said Xandra. "I play my Spell Card, Amazoness Fighting Spirit!"

A Continuous Spell Card appeared, showing Amazoness Fighter with a glowing aura surrounding her.

"Now whenever an 'Amazoness' monster fights one of your monsters with a higher attack than its own, they gain 1000 more attack points during damage calculation!" Xandra smirked. "Oh and whenever Amazoness Pet Liger attacks, his attack raises by 500 during damage calculation!"

"That means…" Shotaro stammered, noticing how Pet Liger's smile grew to expose its sharp fangs.

"I'm not done, though," Xandra continued. "Before I attack, I have one more card to play. I play Amazoness Channeler!"

She played a card, depicting an Amazoness in a maroon turban, arm warmers, sleeveless dress and golden bands with a confident smirk on her face. Her black hair rose into the air as if a draft of air blew underneath her. In front of her looked like a large nest with smoke rising and four souls screaming in agony.

"This card can only work if there's a Fusion monster on the field. I can make it go back to the Extra Deck and then Special Summon its Fusion Materials if they're still in the graveyard. And, if I'm not mistaken, didn't you Banish Masked Hero Anki and Blast to bring out Contrast Hero Chaos?"

"He did!" Yuri exclaimed, relishing the look of horror on Shotaro's face. "Ahahahaha! He absolutely did! And since he's returning to the Extra Deck and not the graveyard, Escuridao doesn't get any stronger!"

"That's right!" Donald added, laughing alongside Yuri.

Amazoness Channeler glowed before four moaning ghosts flew towards Contrast Hero Chaos, wrapped themselves around his black and white arms and legs before the Fusion monster was dragged off to who knows where, leaving Escuridao all by herself.

"...Oh no," Shotaro stated.

"Amazoness Pet Liger," said Xandra, pointing at the lone Elemental Hero. "Attack!"

Amazoness Pet Liger charged toward Escuridao as Amazoness Fighting Spirit glowed. (2500 -) 4000 ATK) Then, the savage beast slashed the dark lady into ribbons.

 **(Xandra: 3100) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 3400)**

"Now Amazoness Queen, attack directly!"

Amazoness Queen charged at Shotaro and made a diagonal slash that formed a tear in one of his sleeves before walking back to Xandra's side.

 **(Xandra: 3100) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 1000)**

"Oh pooh," Shotaro pouted, noticing how his shirt was ruined. "Yumeria is gonna get angry at me for ruining this outfit."

"Like I care," said Xandra, slipping two cards into her Duel Disk. "You're up."

Shotaro drew his card, a smile forming on his lips before he spat another nail onto the ground.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!"

In a crackle of electricity, a yellow and blue warrior appeared with cyan wings and helm topped with antenna. Sparks flew from his fingertips as he took a proper fighting stance. (1600 ATK)

"And next, I play...Mask Change II!"

Shotaro played another card, depicting a man with short black hair in a black suit and four masks of the Masked Hero monsters circling around him.

"All I have to do is offer up one 'Hero' monster and discard a card from my hand and then I can Special Summon a 'Masked Hero' with the matching attribute and a higher level than the monster offered! So goodby Level 4 Sparkman and hello Level 8 Masked Hero who is gonna beat you to the ground!"

Elemental Hero Sparkman's body lit up before he flew into the air, surrounded by a golden light.

" _Hero whose mask shines like the sun! Unleash the light of justice and spread the message of hopes across the heavens! Henshin! Masked Hero Koga!"_

When the light faded away, a warrior appeared in gold and silver armor. The mask of the warrior had a symbol of a crescent on the forehead and pale blue eyes, he also had golden kneepads shaped like diamonds and similar diamonds raised on his shoulders. His weapons were two long golden sword bayonets that were strapped to his arms. (2500 ATK)

"Masked Hero Koga's first effect! He gains 500 attack points for every monster you control!"

Masked Hero Koga roared as a golden aura appeared around him. (2500 -) 3500 ATK)

"Masked Hero Koga's _second_ effect! Once during either our turns, I can Banish one 'Hero' monster in my graveyard to reduce the attack of one monster on the field until the end of my turn. So I Banish Masked Hero Dian to knock the socks out of Amazoness Pet Liger!"

The spirit of Masked Hero Dian appeared next to Koga before it shrunk into an orb the size of a baseball. Masked Hero Koga hurled it at Amazoness Pet Liger, the savage beast roaring in pain as its stats dropped. (2500 -) 0 ATK)

"Oh and one more thing…" said Shotaro, playing one more card.

Mystical Space Typhoon appeared and a large blue tornado blew across the land, taking Xandra's face-down card with it.

 _My Mirror Mail!_ Xandra thought, seeing her only defense against Shotaro's attack gone."

"Masked Hero Koga, attack Xandra's precious puddy tat with Brilliant Razor Fang!"

Masked Hero Koga jumped into the air, the golden blades mounted on his wrists crossed over his head before he descended, creating a large 'X' with two slashes. Amazoness Pet Liger roared, but otherwise was still on the field.

Yet...something was wrong with Xandra's stats.

 **(Xandra: 1350) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 1000)**

"Huh?" asked Shotaro, scratching his head. "That shouldn't be your score. I reduced your monster's attack to 0; you should also have 0 lifepoints!"

"That would be the case," said Xandra. "But, did you forget my face-down card?"

Shotaro looked down and his eyes widened. Protecting Amazoness Pet Liger was a Trap Card of a warrior protecting himself from a barrage of bubbles with his shield.

"Oh, that's Half Unbreak!" said Kanata. "When one plays that card, the monster they choose isn't destroyed in battle and all damage they would take is cut in half!"

"And...that's all from me," Shotaro grumbled, knowing that he was going to be defeated soon enough. All he had in his hand were monster cards, and he knew that even _if_ he decided to banish another monster using Masked Hero Koga's effect, it would be useless if Xandra had a card in her hand to counter that.

So, he sighed and adjusted the brim of his fedora so it covered his eyes. "Care to show me what you got?" he asked.

"I do," said Xandra, drawing a card. When she looked at it, her eyes widened before a smile appeared on her lips.

"I don't get it," said Donald. "What did she draw?"

"Shh," said Kiryu. "Don't ruin her big moment."

"Quick question, Shotaro," Xandra began. "Koga's second effect. It can be used during _either_ of our turns, correct?"

"Correct," Shotaro nodded.

"So, if I decided to attack with Amazoness Pet Liger, for 4000 attack points, all you'd have to do is just Banish another monster from your graveyard, just enough to weaken it and let you win. Right?"

"Uh-huh…"

Xandra smirked. "But what happened if I just removed Koga from the field? What could you do about it?"

"Well," Shotaro began. "To be honest with you, I could do nothing. All of the cards in my hands are monsters!"

"If what you said is true, then I don't think you mind if I play my Spell Card! I activate Dark Core!"

Xandra played her Spell Card, depicting a warrior with his face obscured by a large black sphere.

"All I have to do is discard a card from my hand and then I get to Banish a face-up monster on the field! And even if you decide to use Koga's effect to weaken my monsters, you can only do it to one of them! This duel is finished!"

A black orb filled with energy emerged above Masked Hero Koga's head. The hero only had time to look up before he was sucked into it and the orb vanished.

"Go Xandra!" Donald cheered. Even he knew that this meant that Xandra had won.

"Thanks Donald!" Xandra said. "Now Amazoness Pet Liger, attack directly!"

Amazoness Pet Liger leapt into the air, blocking the sun as he descended, performing two large slashes that caused Shotaro to gasp for air before he dropped to his knees, his fedora falling off his head without a sound as the savage cat landed on the ground and walked back to Xandra's side, nuzzling into Xandra's spare hand with a purr as Xandra scratched one of his ears.

 **(Xandra: 1350) - - - - - - - (Shotaro: 0)**

"She did it! She won!" Kanata and Donald cheered, waving their hands in the air.

Shotaro groaned as the holograms vanished. That...that was exhausting.

"Boss! Boss!" said Jester Eiji, hopping off the table before he rushed toward Shotaro. "You okay? You want me to pluck that woman's eyes out?"

At that, the little porcelain doll turned around to see Xandra with a bow and an arrow made of light aimed directly at him. Xandra just raised an eyebrow as Jester Eiji nervously laughed and went back to helping Shotaro sit up. Philip was also at his partner's side, fussing over the scratches on Shotaro's clothes, all while Shotaro brushed off the concerns with a laugh.

"Brava, brava!" said Kiryu, clapping his hands. "If only you and your other friends were staying long enough for Duel Night at _Satisfaction Town_."

"I thought you guys had the WRGP to worry about," Kanata noted, remembering Haruka mentioning something about it the night before.

"Eh, thing's gonna be canceled very soon," Kiryu replied.

"How do you know that for certain?" Kanata asked with suspicion.

"Do you want to know how I know?" Kiryu rebutted, staring at the girl, waiting for her to give a proper response. Kanata decided that it was best to shut up before she found out the answer. "Good girl."

Kanata childishly stuck her tongue out at Kiryu before she stopped the recording on her phone. She then sighed before looking at the time. In about an hour, everyone was going to be meeting here...man, she knew that there was going to be lots of explaining going on.

"All right, then!" said Hanako, returning to everyone with a few smoothie cups in hand. "I think we should all have something to eat! Dueling always works up a big appetite, huh?"

"Tell me about it," said Kanata. "I haven't felt like this since that tea party in Wonderland." When Yuri looked at her, she hastily added, "The Wonderland Wonderland, not the Café Wonderland…" She groaned in annoyance. "Look, this is all a long story and it's best we just eat before something crazy happens!"

And just as she said that, she noticed Yuri's pendulum softly glowing. It was as if time slowed down for just that moment as Yuri slumped over the table, clutching his chest in pain.

"Huh?" asked Donald. "Yuri, right? Are you...are you okay?"

"Reunite…" Yuri mumbled. "Reunite…"

"No, no no…" Kanata whispered. "We just went through this last night…" She reached out toward Yuri. "Yuri...are you…"

"R...reunite…" Yuri repeated in his daze. "Have to...reunite…"

Kiryu lifted his head as he felt something buzzing in his brain. His eyes widened in alarm. Not now of all times. "Oh shit."

"What's going on now?" asked Xandra, preparing her bow. "Kiryu, are we under attack?"

"We're gonna be soon," said Kiryu, electricity forming in his hands. "Stand back!"

"No!" said Kanata, grasping onto Yuri's hand. "Stay away from him, Kiryu! I'm not gonna lose Yuri again!"

"You're gonna lose your head if you stay there!" Kiryu shouted, dragging Kanata away. But Kanata still wouldn't let go of Yuri's hand, even as a purple aura manifested around the boy. "Hey, duck! A little hand, wing, whatever! Help me out!"

Kanata looked at Donald, silently pleading with him to let her stay with Yuri. But just as Donald was about to open his beak, he was stopped by Yuri snarling, magenta eyes glowing mad as he shouted.

"REUNITE!" Yuri screamed. "REUNITE AS ONE!"

A blast of light knocked everyone off of their feet. Xandra prepared an arrow as the light surrounding Yuri spreads out. Strange purple dragon fins appear on the sides of his face, along with yellow horns with purple orbs at its tips rising from his violet hair. He gasped for breath as a pair of wings emerge from his back, the same color as his hair with red orbs like closed flower buds. A vine-like tail formed from the end of his spine, also ending with a red orb. When the light faded, what used to be a boy was now a fusion of a dragon and a boy.

"Oh my stars!" Hanako gasped. "Kanata, what happened to him?"

Kanata didn't know how to explain this at all, mouth feeling dry as Kiryu and Donald pulled her away. But that didn't stop Yuri from whipping his head towards the trio, the pupils of his eyes now thin slits like a serpent.

"Y...Yuri…" Kanata whimpered, taking a step towards him. "Yuri, it's okay. It's me...Kanata. I...I won't hurt you."

No one dared to say anything as Kanata took her hand into his and placed both of them onto her heart. Yuri snarled at her, but Kanata stayed firm. She wasn't going to leave him again; she made a promise.

And whenever she made a promise, she made sure to keep them.

"Interesting," said Philip, tilting his head at the scene. "Do you think we should interfere, Shotaro?"

"No, no," Shotaro chuckled. "This is proper entertainment! This is much better than doing paperwork at home, wouldn't you say? AHAHAHAHAH - OW!"

That came from Xandra hitting him over the head with her Duel Disk. "This isn't funny! Someone's gonna get hurt if we don't do something!"

"Don't worry!" said Jester Eiji, showing his little knife. "I can take care of it!"

Kanata took a deep breath as she felt Yuri calm down. She stared into his eyes and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her forehead onto his own. "I'm here. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"K...Kanata…" Yuri whispered, his eyes returning to their normal magenta color. "H...help me."

"I will. Yuri, what do you need me to do?"

"...Hold still."

Then, Yuri's body was wrapped in darkness as he let another cry of pain. His body began to grow, and grow and grow until it took the form of a dragon. But not just any dragon…

"Starving Venom…" Kanata whispered. "No, Yuri...right?"

The dragon flapped its humongous wings and let out a screech, prompting Xandra to fire an arrow at its face. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything except aggravate it.

As this went on, Kanata's forgotten cellphone dropped into Kiryu's hands. Thankfully, it hadn't shut off, so Kiryu quickly began to text something to Haruka just as the dragon showed its mighty tail towards Kanata.

 _Kanata..._ The dragon whispered into the girl's mind. _Hold on tight._

"Huh?" Kanata blinked before she took the tail into her hand. Then, the dragon flapped its wings once again and began to rise into the sky.

"Unhand her, monster!" Xandra shouted, preparing three more arrows. Philip also began to draw a few more black lines. Kanata noticed them and pulled out a card from her pinafore pocket, an Xyz Monster, just as the projectiles flew towards Yuri. Nodding her head, she thrusted a hand out, a silver and blue gauntlet materializing over it.

A magic seal resembling a clock materialized in front of her. Streams of light fired at the arrows and lines, freezing them in time. Donald noticed Kanata's leg dangling in front of him and grabbed onto it, and not a moment too soon.

"Donald, what are you doing?" Xandra exclaimed.

"Trying to...get this girl...to get off...the dragon!" Donald strained, trying to pull Kanata away. But Kanata wouldn't budge, and instead tried to kick Donald in the chest in retaliation.

"No, Donald!" Kanata exclaimed. "I'm not leaving Yuri again! You can't make me!"

 _Hurry!_ The dragon roared in Kanata's mind. _Father calls for us…_

"Father?" Kanata asked, looking at the dragon. "Oh no, you don't mean...WHOA!"

She didn't have time to react as the dragon flew off, carrying her and Donald to who knows where, all while everyone down below looked in shock and astonishment and the only sound heard was Donald quacking in horror.

"That's...bad," Shotaro commented.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"That was _magnifico_!" Panchito exclaimed after Haruka's video finished. "Who knew there were different ways of fusing monsters together?"

"I'm just glad that Xandra was able to pull off a victory," said José. "I mean, if this is just how _one_ opponent duels, I hate to see when we actually have to duel a Dark Signer for real."

Haruka looked at the time. "We need to get going. I have a bad feeling about all of this.."

"That was amazing!" Hikari squealed. "Whoever that opponent was, I have to ask what techniques he use to make him look so puppetesque! And I'd like an interview or two with this Xandra person, er, goddess...this day couldn't get any better!"

Just then, Haruka saw a text message appear on her phone. What she saw caused her to nearly drop the phone in horror.

 _FarawayWonderland: This is Kiryu, Princess of Prophecy. Yuri just went berserk. GET AWAY FROM YUGO NOW._

"W...what?" Haruka whispered. "No...not…"

Yugo gripped his head in pain, sweat pouring down his face as his breathing quickened.

"Yugo?" Haruka asked, heart pounding in her chest. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

"W...what's happening to him?" asked Shinji.

"Keep it together!" Masato exclaimed. "Yugo, It's going to be all…"

He stepped back when Yugo swiped at him, the yellow banged boy dropping to his knees as he felt the voices in his head call for him, beg for him.

"No!" Yugo snarled, eyes glowing with a bright teal light. "No...Haruka please...I...I have to...must...must...REUNITE! REUNITE AS ONE!"

His roar caused the ground to shake, causing the seven man audience to step back as Yugo lifted his head to the air and roared once more as dragon appendages formed on his body.

"Not again, not again, not again!" Haruka exclaimed. "We just went through this last night!"

"What do we do?!" asked Masato, turning to Yusei. "Do we stop him or…"

"Let him transform," said Yusei, bringing an arm out to stop the boy. "There's a reason for all of this."

Hikari lifted her camera to the air and began to record the transformation, all while Haruka braced herself against the powerful gusts of wind that formed from his four glass wings. A long white and black tail emerged which wrapped around Haruka's waist and soon, the two took to the sky.

"YUGO!" Haruka exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Nee-chan!" Masato exclaimed, all while everyone looked on. Yugo was slowly transforming into a silver dragon with a black underside and a blue horn growing from his forehead. Another gust of wind caused everyone to fall onto their backs as Haruka maneuvered herself until she was shimmying up his tail and then riding on Yugo's back...

No, not Yugo. This was his dragon - Clear Wing Synchro Dragon.

"What's going on Yugo?" Haruka asked. She looked down, seeing how Yugo's shadow covered Hikari, Shinji, Masato, Yusei and the two Caballeros. She placed a hand on her Duel Disk, a red seal surrounding her deck.

 _Father asks for us..._ Yugo's voice answered. Haruka gasped upon hearing Yugo's voice in her mind. _No time for questions. We have to go to him now!_

"Now? What do you mean NOW!"

Haruka's screams were the only thing that were heard as Yugo began to fly off. Thinking quick, Panchito pulled out a lasso from his vest and spun it round and round before he hurled it. The lasso landed on the dragon's tail and he, along with José, were sent flying into the air.

"YAHOO!" Panchito exclaimed, all while José tried to avoid looking at the ground by covering his eyes with his spare hand. "This is fun!"

"Hell yeah it is!" Hikari cheered. "Let's go after them!"

"But how are we gonna catch up?" asked Shinji. "They can be going anywhere in Domino City!"

Masato looked down and noticed a deck of cards in his hands. He flipped the first card over and his eyes widened at what he saw.

"I think I may know how," he said, revealing F.A. Hang On Mach.

Hikari's grin grew wide as Shinji groaned and Yusei nodded his head, the razorblades emerging from underneath his nails.

"Then let's get to it," he said. "It looks like the Dark Signs have already emerged to take root onto our world."

* * *

" _I Understood That Reference!"_

" _She just told everyone your deepest darkest secret! You must be so embarrassed!": This line comes from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, after Mantis reveals how Peter Quill has desires for Gamorra. Drax then states these lines all while laughing like a maniac._

 _Shotaro's summon chants for the Masked Hero inculdes the word "Henshin!" which is Japanese for "transform". This is the line that heralds a transformation of a Kamen Rider (which is what the Masked Hero cards are based off of)_

 _Kanata's username (FarawayWonderland) is based off her and Haruka's name combining into a phrase that means "Far away"._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _ **Next time: Daisy and her nieces are hard at work trying to find something, anything, that will give them a head's up against the Dark Signers. Unfortunately, Daisy has to deal with an unsettling character that makes**_ **her** _**seem like a princess. Does Daisy have what it takes to fight this green-eyed opponent?**_

" _ **Peacock Girl" coming soon.**_


	7. Peacock Girl

_**Daisy Duck is someone that I had little to no respect for when Lord Felldrake appeared in the modern age.**_

 _ **She was just like Donald except that she could care less about Donald's sacrifice to save the world. It was always about her and nothing could change her mind.**_

 _ **However, after her and Donald's little excursion to Shangri-la - and her finally learning the truth about what he has been doing, not to mention him obtaining his job and home - she's mellowed out. She became much more understanding as to all of the work he has done done in saving the world and apologized for her selfish attitude. And in the meantime, she's taken the time to work with a friend of hers in a place called Hotdog Hill, working as part of a Happy Helpers group when she's not helping Donald with his Quackmore Institute duties.**_

 _ **It's amazing to see how people can be much more understanding and willing to change for the better…**_

 _ **Unfortunately, that's not the case with a certain Vice President.**_

 _ **And while I found myself fighting off masked heroes and eventually having to save Donald from a venomous dragon, it seemed as if Daisy had to fend off against someone who was essentially her opposite…**_

 _ **A woman who could never be satisfied with what she had.**_

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **6th Sign**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0**

 **Peacock Girl**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Seriously?" asked April. As she helped right a suit of armor, she added, "You and Minnie helped out _Chef Oxley_ of all people?"

"Mm-hmm!" Daisy answered, a bottle of super glue in her hand as she worked on fixing a broken urn that had an image of a dragon or a bunch of sticks from what she has put together so far. Ari was busy hammering some boards while Humphrey swept the floor of dust and debris. "He asked us to help spruce up an old restaurant that was a huge part of his childhood, and he's such a diifferent person compared to how he's presented on TV. Although it was a funny coincidence that he called while Minnie and I were trying out one of his recipes on 'Menu Makeover'. I can still feel the stiffness in my arm from that whisk!"

"You've gotta tell us more stories," said June, beak stuck in a book. She had been looking through a large tome about Japanese weapons and gasped upon finding said book had a centerfold. "Now _that's_ a katana!"

"What's with you and Japanese culture?" asked May, sorting through some brightly painted figurines of animals. _Alebrijes_ , was what Clinton Coot's notes called them. She was already slipping name tags on them for easy remembering; Maya, Miguel, Dora, Diego, Victor, Valentino.

"It's just so...exotic!" June answered, closing the book and pressing it to her heart like it is a love letter written for her eyes only. "Envisioning its natural beauty, fashion trends in Shibuya, the ancient myths along with its abundance of monsters... everything about Japan just _screams_ wonder!"

"I can easily say the same about Mexican culture and Aztec mythology," said May, decorating the shelf of _alebrijes_ with fake marigolds. "Panchito tells some wicked stories about Aztec mythology. I mean, name me one other culture where rabbits are representations as to how many times one can get absolutely _smashed_."

"That's nothing compared to how the legendary eight-headed snake Orochi ended up being defeated by drinking enormous tubs of _sake_ ," June countered.

"What about Sekhmet and how she became pacified into a gentle loving cow goddess after she drank lots of red colored beer thinking it was blood?" said April, showing a book of Egyptian mythology to her sisters.

At this, Daisy raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you three showed so much interest in specific mythologies...and stories about people getting drunk."

"It does help that the Caballeros had adventures in Egypt, Mexico and Japan," said April. "And we can be of some use if there's ever anything related to these countries that's gonna be showcased at the New Quackmore Institute. Hey, did you guys know that Duel Monsters originated in Egypt?"

"Really?" asked June.

"Yeah, it says that people could call upon monsters that were representations of their soul, the _ka_ or was it _ba_ , and use them to fight. And then there was this huge shadow war that would have caused the end of the world were it not for the brave pharaoh named - "

A sudden knock on the door interrupted April's story.

"Who could that be?" asked Daisy, standing up and approaching the door. When she opened it, all she could say was, "Oh. You."

"Hmph," said the person at the door. It was a peacock in a maroon suit, wearing a pair of glasses with square glasses that magnified disdainful and disinterested eyes. "Of all the people to answer the door, it just had to be _you_."

"What do you want with us this time, Eugenia?" asked May. "For the last time, Donald is the current president by a unanimous vote and…"

Eugenia Ferdinand-Ferdinand scowled but quickly became calm. "While I am... aggravated at how I lost the covered position as President, I have come here to obtain answers to that."

By "that", Eugenia pointed to the Sheldgoose manor across the street where the window to the game room was still shattered along with a huge scorch mark on the road from Tadashi's entrance.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," said Daisy.

"Does it involve what happened with Baron von Sheldgoose when he transformed his ancestor into a monstrosity and tried to take over the world?" asked Eugenia.

"Is it strange to find that you actually _believe_ in it instead of assuming it was all smoke and mirrors?" asked April.

"Not the point!" Eugenia snapped.

"Then what's the point?" asked May. "We're currently in the process of reorganizing some artifacts in the cabana and have no time to deal with your soap opera woes."

"I would like to talk to Donald Duck and his fellow 'Caballeros' over this incident," Eugenia began. Just as Daisy opened her beak, the peacock added, "You cannot hide it from me; it's been broadcasted all over town."

To emphasize this, Ari pulled the radio to the side and fiddled with the antenna before a clear voice spoke.

" _In other news, meteorologists are still discussing the strange spider sigil that appeared in the sky just hours ago. Moreover, it seems as if there has been some talk about a strange hero calling himself 'Kaibaman' who -"_

Humphrey wisely turned the radio off.

"Well?" asked Eugenia, impatiently tapping a black heel on the welcome mat. "I'm waiting."

"Donald, Panchito and José are not here at the moment," said Daisy. "Listen, Eugenia…"

"Only my _friends_ are allowed to call me that."

"What friends?" May whispered, causing everyone else to mutter "Ooh…." in response.

Daisy sighed at May's snark and continued, "Well, Miss Ferdinand, why don't we discuss this over some tea? It's kinda hard to explain."

"Like your recent kissing up to Chef Oxley?"

"You actually watch his show?" asked April.

"I have to keep up with the times," Eugenia harrumphed. "And what do I find but Miss Daisy helping clean out a kitchen nightmare and a huge thank you from Chef Oxley himself!"

"Why does this bother you so much?" asked Daisy.

"Because!" Eugenia barked. "What credentials do you have to achieve such an honor to help someone like him?!"

"So that's what this is about…" June noted. "You're _jealous_!"

"Kinda obvious," says May. "Have you seen those tail feathers of hers?"

"I'll have you know that I properly take care of my tail feathers," Eugenia replied. "I can't say the same of Miss Daisy's complexion."

"I'm sorry that I'm busy using up elbow grease," Daisy explained. "Of course, you wouldn't know hard work like that if it nipped you in the rear."

"This is what I'm talking about!" Eugenia fumed. "You do not look like you belong here! It should have been me who achieved the role of President of the New Quackmore Institute. This _travesty_ would have been avoided if _you_ , Miss Daisy, didn't get involved."

"... Excuse me?" asked Daisy, close to slamming the door in front of Eugenia's face, hand gripped onto the doorknob. "But would you kindly repeat what you just said?"

Eugenia pointed a finger at Daisy. "You, 'Jigsaw Daisy'...if you didn't become so _crazy_ completing that deed, that position would have been mine!"

"Blame Baron von Sheldgoose for even having it in the first place," said June. "I mean, how was Aunt Daisy supposed to know what it was unless it was pieced together?"

"The smart thing to do was burn the deed," April noted.

"And you!" Eugenia shrilled, pointing to the girls. "There should be some law against children running about in affairs that don't concern them!"

"We decided to help by our own free will," said May. "Besides, this will make a great topic for a 'How I Spent My Summer Vacation' paper in a few weeks."

"And I would like it if you didn't get my nieces involved in your tirade," said Daisy. She knew how Donald had been protective of Huey, Dewey and Louie - the three were currently under the care of Uncle Scrooge with Donald traveling to Duckburg to keep an eye on them once in a while - and she also felt just like him in regards to how Eugenia was ready to harm the bows on April, May and June's heads.

"It's not fair!" Eugenia screamed. " _I_ should be the president! And then...and then…"

"...And then what?" asked Daisy.

At this, Eugenia paused. "What do you mean by, 'And then what?'"

"What happens to you after you finally became President of the New Quackmore Institute?" Daisy clarified.

Eugenia paused; for as long as that thought has been on her mind, it never occurred to her what would happen after she obtained that rank. "Well, I...I mean…"

"Don't you have friends or places to go when you're not busy with your Vice President duties?" Daisy questioned.

"Of course I do!" Eugenia answered hastily, trying to look at something other than Daisy. "I have a healthy social life! I have a book club that I visit once a month. I go to wine tasting events! I…"

"What about family? No parents, no siblings, no significant other? Or are you married to your job?"

"That is absolutely none of your business! Now see here..."

"And what do you plan on doing once you become President? Any reforms? Any ideas as to obtain new members? How about handling events, shipments of artifacts, rearranging meetings and the like? If you've been wanting this position for some time, clearly you had some idea as to keep up with the times."

"Donald doesn't know _anything_ about this type of life!" Eugenia screeched.

"Donald may not have a fancy resume or the money that you have, but he has something that you will never obtain even if you slave away as Vice President your entire life."

"And what's that?" Eugenia asked testily, raising an eyebrow.

Daisy smirked. "He has heart. And with that, good day."

She closed the door as gently as she could before sitting down once more at the table. April, May, June, Ari and Humphrey stared at Daisy returning to her work, carefully gluing two pieces of the urn together. After three seconds, May was the one to speak.

"Aunt Daisy," she said earnestly with a smirk on her face. "You're _hardcore_."

Daisy didn't say anything; she just returned the comment with a smile and a wink.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Eugenia was absolutely _angry_.

In her tenure as Vice President - a title that she absolutely loathed - of the New Quackmore Institute, she has never felt so angry, aggravated and absolutely _envious_ of its President and his family right now.

She had slaved away for the past decade and a half, working long nights organizing events, going through catalogues of artifacts, sacrificing offers for dates both big and small and communication with her parents aside from visiting them every Christmas and _still_ that title of President eluded her. Instead of having her become President, it was given to a duck in a sailor uniform just because he had the right connections!

(That and also because he helped to save the world, but you can't put that on a resume, can you?)

Peering through a window of the Cabana, Eugenia snarled at how much "fun" they were having. From Daisy being crazy over reassembling the urn, the triplets arguing over which mythology was the best, Ari wielding a mallet and hammering down any stray nail that came his way like he was playing whack-a-mole and Humphrey screwing in lightbulbs. They all seemed so...happy.

And that _angered_ her.

Eugenia stared at how one of the triplets, the purple one, jumped in joy as she showed off a silver bracelet on her right wrist. It glowed with a soft light before it transformed into some strange over-sized wrist watch with a curved blade. This was then followed by another triplet, the one with the yellow blouse, doing the exact same motion. Then, there was laughter as they drew cards from decks and chanted something about dueling or the like.

But as Eugenia just stared and stared at the residents of the cabana, the sound of a guitar playing and someone emerging from a tornado of marigold petals right behind her. Without a sound, the figure nodded their head before pulling the sleeve of the cloak back.

On his arm was a dark purple pictograph of a lizard.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"It's my move!" said June, drawing a card. "And first, I summon…"

"Hold on a minute!" said Daisy, getting inbetween the two. "We're not dueling here."

"But Aunt Daisy - "

"No buts, girls," Daisy sighed as she finally placed the last piece of the urn back together. "We can't have any more destruction come into the cabana. We're supposed to be searching for something that will help us with those cultists."

"Oh come on, Aunt Daisy," said May, pulling out a crystal skull from a box. She turned to April who was mouthing out "To be, or not to be" while June snickered. She rolled her eyes as she set the crystal skull on the table. "I think we scared those guys off."

"Technically it was Kaibaman who did that," said April/.

"And why would they want to deal with us?" asked June. "It's not like we have anything important."

Then, there was a pounding on the door.

"Who could that be _now_?" Daisy muttered, standing up and approaching the door. "I hope it's not Uncle Scrooge or one of his rivals asking for WHOA!"

Daisy was hurled out of onto the road with a thud. When she looked up, she saw a familiar silhouette standing over her.

"What do you want now, Eugenia?" she asked. "I'm in the middle of - "

"She's not going to be talking to you so soon," a male voice stated.

Daisy gasped as she scrambled onto her feet. There was Eugenia, eyes set in a glare and glowing green. Behind Eugenia was a black hooded figure with a lean frame. The cloak was covered in green trim.

"Aunt Daisy, what's going - " April placed a hand over her beak. "Is that…"

"Another one of those cloaked guys?" June finished.

"Oh, great," said May, shaking her head.

"Hello there," the cloaked person said. They had some sort of accent, but it was hard to tell. "I heard that my fellow Dark Signer, Tadashi, came to this world in search of the Golden Atlas."

"It's not here anymore to answer your question," said Daisy.

"So I heard," The stranger chuckled. "Ah, where are my manners? Call me 'Hector' and I am the Dark Signer of the Lizard."

"I'm Daisy and I'm asking you to get out," Daisy replied. "And just what have you done with Eugenia?"

"Oh, her?" said Hector, motioning to the Duel Disk with peacock feather accents on Eugenia's right arm. "Nothing much...except I told her that there was another way of getting what she wanted."

"...You're going to let her duel me so I'm used as bait for her to grab Donald and…" Daisy shook her head. "Okay, that's just ridiculous. First off all, murder is never the best solution. Second of all, I don't think Miss Ferdinand-Ferdinand knows how to duel and third, all of this for a _book_?! I mean, that's kind of petty if you ask me."

At this, Hector's thin line of a mouth turned into a snarl.

"You have no idea how important that Golden Atlas is for our plans," he hissed. "But for now... _Señorita Eugenia..._ Duel her and bring her to me!"

"Oh no you don't!"

Before Daisy could chase after Hector, he teleported in a tornado of marigold petals. That and Eugenia stretched her arm out so Daisy hit a barrier instead.

"You are going to _pay_ for taking what was rightfully mine away from me," Eugenia hissed, drawing five cards from her Duel Disk. "Duel me, Daisy Duck!"

Daisy rubbed her head with a hand before she stared at the bright green aura surrounding Eugenia. April, May, June, Ari and Humphrey were at the windows, looking on in concern.

Daisy didn't need to turn around. Instead, she looked at the silver bracelet with the pink stone around her wrist before waving her hand over it. Then, a silver duel disk shaped after said bracelet with a pink rose deck holder appeared over her arm.

"You wanna get nuts, Eugenia?" asked Daisy, drawing her cards. "Fine then! Let's get nuts! It's time to duel!"

 **(Daisy: 8000) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 8000)**

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"And you're sure this will work?"

Hector whispered this to another cloaked figure, shorter than him with spiky hair and a cloak with violet trim, standing to his left. The violet cloaked person nodded his head.

"If what we have done is successful, you'll see her again. We will see all of our loved ones again, Hector."

"I hope you are right, Yozora."

Yozora looked at the sky and placed his hands behind his head. He always liked looking at the sky; it reminded him of freedom and being able to go wherever the wind may take him.

And the winds, apparently, brought him here for a destiny not even he knew awaited him.

"What will this accomplish exactly?" asked Hector, observing the two women, birds, beginning their duel.

"We want to see what she's capable of," Yozora answered, lowering his hands. "I know about her little boyfriend, but her? She has potential."

"So have the other thralls that we have tested so far."

Yozora frowns. "Everyone has potential." he stated.

"Yozora, this is serious!" Hector exclaimed. "Unlike you, I am living on borrowed time! You have friends and family to come back to! If we cannot finish this plan in time I...I…"

"We have all the time in the world, Hector," Yozora stated coolly. "As long as you have Ccaryahua bound to your soul, you can still walk amongst the living even if you are completely forgotten."

"But I do not want to be forgotten!" Hector screamed, clenching a hand into a fist. "I want to be remembered!"

He brought that hand back and attempted to punch Yozora, only for Yozora to catch the fist.

"You will be remembered for unleashing a convergence," Yozora answered, "Just be a bit more patient."

"How. much. Longer?!" Hector growled. "I have been barred from the afterlife for almost a century! Do you know what it feels like to be unable to pass on to the promised land?! To see yourself dying by the person closest to your heart stabbing you in the back?"

Yozora lowered his hand. Then, a tear fell down his eye.

"...I do." he answered softly.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Uh, guys," said April, realizing something. "Aunt Daisy doesn't know how to duel, does she?"

"I do, April!" said Daisy, not even turning around. "In fact, I've been watching plenty of videos online on how to duel. Not only that, but this deck is exactly the one I had my eye on for some time!

"I've also tried to get in contact with Uncle Scrooge in regards to setting up a dueling tournament to pass the time while Donald has to go to whatever crazy Caballero crusade that comes his way, but Scrooge has been ranting over some 'klutzes who tore a hole in me precious money bin' or something like that."

This caused Ari to drop his beak in surprise. April, May and June laughed nervously all while Humphrey also chuckled sheepishly.

"So, what type of deck is in there?" June questioned.

"You'll see soon enough," said Daisy, drawing her card. "First, I'll play the Field Spell Card, Black Garden!"

Daisy flips her card over, revealing a marble faun statue surrounded by multiple thorny vines with black roses blooming. When she played the card on her Duel Disk, a large tunnel of vines with black roses covered her and Eugenia.

"Very gothic!" June squealed, taking a photo on her cellphone. "I know how I'm decorating my bedroom now!"

"First of all," Daisy began. "This Field Spell makes any monster we Normal or Special Summon have their attacks cut in half. But we also get a 'Rose Token' for every summon so I guess it evens out."

"And do _they_ have any special abilities?" asked Eugenia.

"You'll just have to wait and see. And next, I combine my Field Spell with this Spell Card, The World Tree!"

A Continuous Spell Card appeared, depicting a magnificent tree with orange flower buds. Then, a tree appeared behind Daisy, tall with bright green leaves and shining with life. It made the girls remember how the Three Caballeros and Xandra went off to Italy and the World Tree that was the home of the Roman deities and birthplace of planets.

(Although why a World Tree, mostly known for being the center of _Norse_ mythology was being tended to by the elderly Jupiter, Venus and Mars was anyone's guess.)

"Whenever a Plant-type monster is destroyed, I can place one 'Flower Counter' on this card," Daisy continued. "And when I have enough, I can offer them to unleash some devastating effects!

"And as for my monster, I summon Lonefire Blossom in Defense Mode!"

Emerging onto the field was a strange plant with a flower bud consisting of a small bomb with its wick lit. (500/1400 -) 250/1400) Then, to the left of Lonefire Blossom, a single red rose bloomed. (800 DEF)

"I activate the effect of Lonefire Blossom! If I tribute a Plant-type monster I control, I get to Special Summon a Plant-type monster in my deck onto the field. So I tribute my Rose Token to summon Fallen Angel of Roses in Attack Mode!"

The Rose Token wilted before a new monster was summoned in its place. It was an angel with violet skin wielding a thorny whip in her hands. (2400 -) 1200 ATK)

"I end my turn with one card face-down," said Daisy, her hand now holding two cards. "Your move, Miss Ferdinand-Ferdinand."

Eugenia frowned as she drew a card with the same amount of emotion someone has watching paint dry.

"First," she began. "I shall bring out the Spirit monster known as Nikitama in Defense Mode."

A lime-colored fireball emerged onto the field with an oval head with a calm expression on its face seen within the fire. (800/1800 -) 400/1800) A Rose Token rose next to this light green fireball. (800 DEF)

"'Spirit monster'?" asked June. "What's that?"

"According to what it says on my phone, it's a type of monster that, if summoned, must go back to your hand at the end of your turn," May answered, phone in hand. "That's kinda stupid; I mean, don't you _want_ monsters to protect your lifepoints and all?"

"I activate Nikitama's effect!" said Eugenia, ignoring May's question. "When Nikitama is on the field, I get to make an additional Normal Summon for a Spirit monster. So I'll summon Shinobird Crow next!"

Witha loud 'caw', a new monster appeared, dressed like a ninja. He wore midnight blue robes with red trim and a hood that looked similar to that to the head of a raven. In his left hand was a kunai decorated with three peacock feathers. Black feathery wings unfurled from his back as he prepared to run. (0/0)

A second Rose Token bloomed next to this Shinobird monster. (800 DEF)

"Why summon a monster that has nothing in its stats?" asked Daisy. "I mean, I guess it won't be affected by Black Garden's effect but if you're just going to return it to your hand at the End Phase, doesn't it make him, I don't know...useless?"

"Useless?!" Eugenia shrieked. "I'll show _you_ useless! I activate Shinobird Power Spot! Now all Spirit monsters I control gain an additional 500 Attack and Defense Points!"

She played the card, depicting a stone shrine with an emblem of three peacock feathers carved at the base. Within the shrine was a glowing orb and a cyan scroll. Two orbs descended onto the hearts of the two Spirit Monsters, strengthening them. (Nikitama: 400/1800 -) 900/2300, Shinobird Crow: 0/0 -) 500/500)

"Now Shinobird Crow, attack that violet devil now!"

Shinobird Crow raced across the field, kunai ready. It ran so fast that it practically vanished. Fallen Angel of Roses narrowed her eyes and readied her weapon.

"Sorry to disappoint you," said Daisy. "But Fallen Angel of Roses is too strong for you to...wait, _what_?!"

Shinobird Crow's stats rose (500/500 -) 3300/3400) before he appeared to the left of the Fallen Angel and sliced her with the kunai right in the heart. Fallen Angel of Roses let out a cry as an orange flower bloomed on the World Tree.

 **(Daisy: 5900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 8000)**

"Wait a second," said Daisy. "How did your monster get that many points?"

Eugenia chuckled, flashing a card in her hand before sending it to the graveyard. "That's because I activated Shinobird Crow's effect. When he goes into battle, I can discard a Spirit monster in my hand and boost his stats equal to that of the Spirit monster discarded during the Damage Step. The monster I sent was Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi…"

"Hina-Bage-Whatchi?" Daisy asked, scratching her head.

Eugenia sighed. "He's based off of Kagu-tsuchi."

"...?" Daisy tilted her head to the side, so did April, May, Ari and Humphrey. June was reading through a book known as _In the Land of Gods and Monsters: Definitive Edition_ , finding the tab for Japan and searching for the mythological being Eugenia spoke of.

"The Japanese god of fire whose birth killed his mother Izanami."

"..."

Eugenia groaned and placed a hand over her face. "If there was one thing I liked about Sheldgoose is that at least he managed to follow up on subjects that I was interested in...if only for a game of one-upmanship."

"Well, I'm _sorry_ that I have a job helping others out to not have time to read up on my Japanese mythology," said Daisy, rolling her eyes. "However, I at least know what you're talking about with The Crow over there."

Eugenia raised an eyebrow "You do?"

"Donald told me about all his adventures, and he mentioned how he, Panchito and José had to avoid being skewered by _karasu tengu_. Although why they had eagle heads is beyond me. Oh and the fact that the entrance to the Underworld was in Mt. Fuji and -"

"I have no time for any more distracting conversations!" Eugenia snapped. "I end my turn and with that, Nikitama and Shinobird Crow return to my hand."

The two Spirit monsters were enveloped in a white aura before they returned into Eugenia's hand. Then, Shinobird Power Spot began to glow.

"Let me guess," said April. "That card gives you an effect because a Spirit monster returned into your hand, right?"

"Partly correct," said Eugenia. "It only works if a WIND monster returned to my hand. By doing so, I can take either a Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell Card from my deck and add it to my hand."

"Ritual Monsters _and_ Spirit Monsters?" June gasped. "Aunt Daisy is in trouble!"

"I'll be fine, June,," said Daisy, drawing a card. "Now then, I'll sacrifice my Rose Token to summon Rose Tentacles in Attack Mode!"

The Rose Token wilted before a new monster that looked like an rose/octopus hybrid bloomed, large thorny vine/tentacles ready to inflict pain. (2200 -) 1100 ATK) Another Rose Token appeared next to this strange Plant-type monster.

"And I'll use Rose Tentacles to attack your Rose Tokens!"

"That's ridiculous!" Eugenia huffed. "For one thing, your monster can only attack one of them. And second, they're both in Defense Mode! You won't inflict any damage!"

"That's what you think!" Daisy smirked. "For every Plant-type monster you control, Rose Tentacles gains an additional attack. And for every Plant-type monster it destroys, you lose 300 lifepoints!"

"So wait," says April. "Eugenia has two Rose Tokens, so that's 600 lifepoints gone. But then…"

"Aunt Daisy gets three attacks," said May. "Two to destroy the Rose Tokens and one that lets her attack directly!"

"Exactly!" said Daisy. "Get to work, Rose Tentacles!"

Eugenia cringed as her lifepoints dropped with each attack, particularly when Rose Tentacles whacked her across the face. Meanwhile, two more flowers bloomed on Daisy's World Tree.

 **(Daisy: 5900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 6300)**

"Now I activate the effects of The World Tree!" said Daisy. "Since I have 'Flower Counters' on this card, I can unleash some very powerful effects depending on how many I offer.

"So for this, I offer up three Flower Counters to resurrect Fallen Angel of Roses from the graveyard!"

Three of the flowers wilted as the purple skinned fallen angel returned, whip in hand. (2400 -) 1200 ATK) Then, another Rose Token bloomed on Daisy's side of the field.

"I end this with one card face-down," said Daisy, placing a card into her Duel Disk. "Your move."

"Hmph," said Eugenia, drawing a card. "You may have skill, but I have power! First, I have Nikitama return onto the field."

The light green fireball appeared again (400/1900 -) 200/1900) and a Rose Token bloomed next to it.

"Then, I use his effect to bring back Shinobird Crow!"

The crow ninja appeared once more, glaring at Daisy's monsters. (0 ATK) A second Rose Token appeared.

"I'm not falling for that mistake again," said Daisy. "I activate my face-down card, Pollinosis!"

Her card flipped over, depicting Goblin of Greed suffering from a severe case of hay fever.

"By sacrificing a Plant-type monster on the field, I can negate your summon and destroy him! Sorry Crow, dear...Maybe you're better off resurrecting the dead than fighting me!"

Shinobird Crow squawked as Daisy offered up a Rose Token. Then, the petals of the token fell before they flew towards him, slicing him as if they were sharp as knives before he shattered.

"Go Aunt Daisy!" said June. "Show her how we Ducks never back down!"

However, Eugenia snickered. "Thank you for doing that. Now I won't have to worry for activating this! I I play the Ritual Spell, Shinobird's Calling!"

She played the card, depicting a throne room in a Japanese temple. A figure with white angelic wings and white hair stands in front of an unraveled scroll. There is also a throne, marked with the familiar three peacock feathers symbol, where a sword and a fan lay.

"This allows me to Special Summon one of two Ritual Monsters from my hand, provided I offer up monsters whose combined levels equal 8. However, Shinobird's Calling allows me to banish a Spirit monster in my grave to ease in the sacrifice. So now, I offer my fallen Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi to bring out…"

The spirit of the Level 8 monster briefly appeared before it was sucked into the Ritual Spell. Eugenia cleared her throat as she began to chant.

" _Mighty emperor who represents the shining star, Altair. The bridge to reunite with your beloved has formed! Ritual Summon! Level 8! Rise, Shinobaron Peacock!"_

In a flurry of dark feathers, a monster appears. It is a young man with short black hair tied to a bun, dressed in an elegant blue and white robe trimmed with gold and the images of peacock feathers like a multitude of eyes staring at Daisy. In his left hand is a sword resting in its sheath. (3000 ATK) A Rose Token appeared by his side.

"I don't know what's more insane," May noted. "The fact that Miss Eugenia has a 3000 attack point Ritual Monster or the fact that she's taking this summoning chant thing seriously."

"What are those things that she mentioned in the chant, anyway?" asked April. "Altair, bridge, beloved…"

"Oh, she's talking about Tanabata!" June exclaimed. "It's a holiday in Japan that happens in-between July and August. It celebrates the story of the star crossed lovers Otohime, the Weaver and the Hikoboshi, the Cow-herder - aka the stars Vega and Altair - and how they can only meet once a year upon a bridge of magpies!"

"...when did you learn this?" asked May.

"When I was busy looking through Clinton Coot's books on Japanese folklore!" June answered, picking up a particular book with the title _Joys of Japan: Your Personal Guide to Japanese Culture_. "I'm gonna buy a bamboo plant and put little wish tags on it when Tanabata comes!"

"Well," Eugenia observed. "At least _someone_ here has some culture.

"Now, back to the duel. When my Shinobaron is on the field, he can return three monsters you control back to your hand, Miss Daisy. And once that effect is successful, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Spirit monster from my hand.

"So Shinobaron, return those unsightly rose monsters back to Daisy's hand if you please."

Shinobaron complied by raising a hand, his eyes glowing white before a storm of peacock feathers knocked Rose Tentacles, Fallen Angel of Roses and Lonefire Blossom back into Daisy's hand. Daisy looked in horror as her field became completely empty, barring one Rose Token.

"Then, I shall summon Shinobird Crane onto the field!" Eugenia continued.

At Eugenia's command, a feminine bird humanoid appeared, the same one that was in the artwork of Shinobird's Calling. She had the head of a crane and wore a white kimono dress held back by a feathery sash, the long sleeves of the kimono looking similar to the snow white feathers of her name-sake, and in her clawed hands she wielded a bow and arrow, both decorated with peacock feather imagery. (1500/1500 -) 750/1500 -) 1250/2000) A third Rose Token bloomed next to the crane.

"Shinobird Crane, prune that rose!"

Shinobird Crane nodded her head as she drew the string on her bow back. Then, she fired the arrow, in which it struck the Rose Token without fail, causing it to shatter..

"And Shinobaron Peacock, attack directly!"

Daisy gasped as Eugenia's Ritual Monster prepared his attack, unleashing another gust of wind and peacock feathers before unsheathing his sword. Shinobaron then flew across the field and raised his sword into the air. All Daisy could do was shield herself by crossing her arms over her face, but that wasn't enough before she was thrown back with a cry and landed on her back, her lifepoints dropping to more than half of their original amount.

 **(Daisy: 2900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 6300)**

"Aunt Daisy!" The triples shouted, seeing Daisy sprawled out on the front yard.

"I'm fine," Daisy panted, sitting up. "I've gone through worse."

"Have you?" asked Eugenia, slipping a card face-down. "I end my turn there, and with that my Spirit monsters must return to my hand.

"However, when Shinobaron Peacock returns to my hand, I can Special Summon two 'Shinobird Tokens' onto the field. Plus, Shinobird Power Spot is still in play, and I'll use its effect to bring another Shinobird's Calling into my hand!"

The three Spirits leap into Eugenia's hand as two glowing white orbs each marked with three peacock feathers take Shinobaron Peacock's place. (1500/1500 -) 750/1500 x2) Eugenia took a card to her hand, all while Daisy stood up.

"According to my phone, those Tokens are both at Level 4," said April. "If Aunt Daisy doesn't destroy them on her turn, Eugenia can use her Ritual Spell to summon that baron again!"

"Not if I destroy them right now!" said Daisy. "I reveal my face-down card, Token Feastevil!"

Her face-down card flipped, revealing a bunch of goblins about to feast on some tasty sheep.

"I can activate this card when a Token is summoned onto the field. Now, I get to destroy all Tokens on the field and inflict 300 points of damage for every Token destroyed! So if you think you were going to use those Tokens to bring back your baron, then forget it!"

Eugenia looked in horror as the trio of Rose Tokens and her two Shinobird Tokens were shattered and five orbs of light struck at her chest for each Token destroyed. Meanwhile, three more flowers appeared on The World Tree.

 **(Daisy: 2900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 4800)**

"This duel won't be over until the last card is played," Daisy boasted. "Now, I draw!"

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Violet! Lena!"

Webby von Vanderquack burst into her bedroom just as Violet Saberwing flipped over a from a spread between her and Lena De Spell.

"What is it now, Webbigail?" asked Violet.

"Have you heard the news?" said Webby, bringing a laptop from behind her back. "There's been strange things going on in New Quackmore!"

"Another museum opening that Scrooge wants to take advantage of?" asked Lena, looking at the card that Violet flipped over and smirking at it.

"No," said Webby, setting the laptop down and pointing at the headline. "Look at this."

Violet and Lena turned to the monitor and began to read. It was a news article that showed an image of a strange spider glyph in the middle of the road.

"What in the name of - " asked Violet after reading it three times. "Lena, have you heard of anything like this?"

"If Aunt Magica said anything about a giant spider mark, I would've known about it," said Lena. "Why show us this?"

"Because," Webby answered. "Look at what else I've found online!"

She pointed to another tab and clicked on it. There was a video that showed a strange hooded figure in a black cloak and a strange man with a dragon helm and long red hair. There was plenty of shouting and bursts of light where a giant castle, machines with animal faces and black galaxies emerged.

"...How exactly did anyone even get a recording of this?" asked Violet, rubbing her chin.

"It doesn't matter," said Lena. "What matters is that whoever these people are, they could be dangerous."

"I have been hearing that New Quackmore was the center of some strange incident regarding a Lord Felldrake," Violet noted. "Plus, I'm looking to see if I can find more books for research."

"I heard that Uncle Scrooge is still looking for whoever melted a hole in his money bin," Webby added. "And, according to my calculations given the distance and power of that laser, it turns out the center of the madness was in that exact same city."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Lena, standing up. "And besides, we need something to do while those boys find themselves spending time with that mother of theirs."

"I'll ask Launchpad if he can drive us there!" Webby cheered. "Let's go, girls!"

Violet gathered her backpack as she followed Webby downstairs. Lena sighed and shook her head; the last thing that was needed was the three of them to be involved with more dark magic after the tulpa incident.

Still, with her Aunt Magica out there plotting revenge, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for her return. If there was one thing that she knew about her "Aunt", for lack of a better term, was that Aunt Magica had the same determination as Uncle Scrooge did when it came to hunting treasure or protecting his family.

"Family…" Lena's heart warmed a little at the word. She never really had a family, nor did she have friends. But here, she was accepted and here, she could make a new start.

With that in mind, Lena approached the door. But just as she was about to leave, she turned around to look at the card that Violet drew. It depicted a knight in shining armor, sword in hand as he charges into battle on a horse the color of a star while a storm brews and trees bend back from the strong winds forming. However, she frowned when she noticed that the card was upside down.

With narrowed eyes and a nod of her head, Lena closed the door behind her.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

"I play Graceful Charity," said Daisy, revealing the card in her hand. "With it, I can draw three more cards but I must send two to the graveyard."

The heavenly angel in her green dress shed feathers from her wings as Daisy drew three cards, looked at them for a second or two, then sent two to the graveyard.

"And now, I activate the effects of The World Tree. I will remove four Flower Tokens to destroy both Black Garden and Shinobird Power Spot to even the playing field!"

The last four Flower Counters wilt before the Black Garden fades away and becomes the front yard of the cabana and the shrine for Shinobird Power Spot crumbles.

"Next, I summon Twilight Rose Knight in Attack Mode!"

With a shout, Daisy's newest monster appeared. It was a young girl with cyan hair, dressed in dark purple armor with red trim and a white cape. In his left hand was a sword. (1000 ATK)

"And when he's summoned, I get to summon an additional Level 4 or lower Plant-type monster from my hand...like the Lonefire Blossom your Shinobaron bounced back into my hand last turn!"

The plant with the firework-like bud appeared next to the purple knight. (1400 DEF)

"I fail to see how this move will help you," Eugenia noted. "You _could_ Special Summon a monster using Lonefire Blossom's effect but it will still pale in comparison to my superior monster."

Daisy nodded her head. "True, I _could_ offer Twilight Rose Knight for a bigger monster...but that would mean getting rid of a good Tuner, though."

"Did Aunt Daisy say 'Tuner'?" asked April.

"She did!" said June, looking up Twilight Rose Knight's stats on her phone. "She's gonna do it, guys! She's gonna do it! It's time! It's time! It's…"

"Time to Synchro Summon!" Daisy exclaimed. "Let's go, you two!"

The two monsters float into the air, Twilight Rose Knight turning into a trio of green rings and Lonefire Blossom into three stars that fall in line.

 **(*4 + *3 = *7)**

 _"The pure rose blossoms under the quiet moonlight! Synchro Summon! Level 7! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!"_

With a roar, a large draconic figure emerged onto the field. It had black scales and pink talons, and wings that look similar to that of rose petals trimmed with black. Topping its head were braids of rose petals. Behind him was a collection of black thorny tendrils and a glowing aura like that of pure moonlight. (2400 ATK)

"Whoa…" April, May and June gasped. Ari and Humphrey just silently nodded their heads.

Daisy grinned. "And since I emptied your entire field at the end of your turn, there's nothing stopping me from attacking you directly! Go Black Rose Moonlight Dragon! Rose Requiem!"

Black Rose Moonlight Dragon opened his mouth, a yellow orb of energy forming in his maw. Then, he fired the charged attack straight at the peacock.

"Not so fast!" said Eugenia. "I activate Shinobird's Salvation!"

Her face-down card flipped, depicting Shinobaron Peacock along with a woman wearing similar garb like said baron, her hands clasped in prayer.

"When you declare an attack, I can banish one Spirit monster in my graveyard to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase! I banish Shinobird Crow to stop your attack!"

The spectral figure of the ninja crow appeared, blocking the attack. Daisy frowned.

"You can't protect yourself by doing that forever!" she noted, playing a card face-down. "Make your move!"

"Gladly," said Eugenia, drawing her card. "First, I play Shinobird's Calling once more!"

A second copy of the Ritual Spell appeared, all while Daisy narrowed her eyes.

"And I'll offer up my newly drawn Level 8 Windrose the Elemental Lord from my hand to summon Shinobird Peacock once again!"

Eugenia slipped a card into the graveyard. The wise blue-robed baron appeared once again, a calm look in his eyes even as he drew his sword. (3000 ATK)

"And that's exactly what I wanted you to do!" Daisy smirked. "I activate Breakthrough Skill!"

Daisy's card flipped, revealing a Trap Card of a monster called Evolzar Dokka breaking through a orange crystal wall.

"When you have an Effect Monster on the field, I can activate this card's effect to negate its effect until the end of this turn. So no, you _won't_ be returning my Synchro monster back to the Extra Deck and you certainly won't be Special Summoning another Spirit monster from your hand through your baron's effect."

Shinobaron groaned and dropped to his knees, feeling weakened by the Trap Card..

"Oh and one more thing," Daisy added. "Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's special ability has it bounce a monster you control back to your hand, provided that it was Special Summoned and its Level is 5 or higher. So see you later, Baron Grinit! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, unleash the Rose Ballad!"

Black Rose Moonlight Dragon lifted its head into the air and roared, a bright yellow aura radiating from its body. The light pulsed and struck the Ritual Monster in the chest before being thrown back into Eugenia's hand.

However, instead of being shocked about the situation, she just laughed. "Once again, Miss Daisy...you think you have avoided my attack, but you just fell for my trap!"

"What do you mean?"

Eugenia snickered. "First, I summon Nikitama once more and use his effect to summon Hebo, Lord of the River to join him!"

Daisy groaned at seeing the large green fireball appear, but raised her eyebrow at Hebo. It was some sort of strange green humanoid creature with the top of his head cut open and filled with water. He had a beak like a duck and a long white beard, and a turtle shell on his back. He wore a black shirt and a sheer cyan tunic. In his left hand was a wooden cane and in his right hand was a strange orange orb. (1800 ATK)

"What the heck is that thing?" asked Daisy.

"Oh, I know! I know!" said June. "That's a kappa! It's a youkai that emerges from water to kidnap people or play tricks on them. If you trick a kappa to pouring the water out of its skull, you weaken them. They also have a fondness for cucumbers, hence the kappa maki sushi roll is just a simple slice of cucumber!"

"Very good," said Eugenia, applauding. "Now, do you know what that orb in his hand is?"

June blinked. "Uh...no?"

Eugenia chuckled. "That is called a shirikodama, and it is a ball that contains a person's soul. Care to guess where that is located?"

June flipped through the book and found the page where the kappa was described. She quickly skimmed through the text before closing the book shut. "EWWW! GROSS!"

"Do we want to know?" asked May. June shook her head. "Good to know."

"Here is Hebo's effect," said Eugeni.. "Once per turn, I can select one monster on the field and transform it into a Spirit monster. At the end of my turn, that monster must return to the hand of its controller.

"So, why don't you answer this question, Miss Daisy...what is the only other monster on the field right now?"

"BLACK ROSE MOONLIGHT DRAGON!" The triplets gasped. Ari and Humphrey also looked in horror as Daisy shook her head in disbelief.

Hebo cackled before he lifted that shirikodama into the air. Black Rose Moonlight Dragon roared in agony as a white orb of light escaped from its tail and was absorbed into Hebo's hand.

"But if you do that, that means…" Daisy didn't need to finish her sentence as Eugenia barked a laugh like that of a haughty sea lion.

"Exactly!" she exclaimed. "Your field will be completely empty and I will _win_!"

"But that's only if you have a card that can bring Shinobaron Peacock out again," Daisy pointed out. "Your Nikitama is fine, but it only has 800 attack points and you'll need another monster with 2100 attack points that you can easily summon without any drawbacks. I hate to say it, actually I don't, but you won't win!"

At that, something flared inside Eugenia. The green glow in her eye intensified.

"...I play one card face-down," she growled. "And then, all Spirit monsters must return to the hand!"

Eugenia's Spirit monsters returned to her hand, all while Hebo cackled to himself while Daisy's Synchro Dragon went back to the Extra Deck. Daisy frowned at this.

 _That's it!_ She thinks, drawing her card. When she saw what she has drawn, she smirked. _Time to show Miss Ferdinand-Ferdinand who the_ real _duelist is around here!_

"Time to unleash a figure that you won't find from any mythology," said Daisy. "I banish my Fallen Angel of Roses from my graveyard and Queen Angel of Roses from my hand to unleash my most powerful monster! Come on, ladies!"

Fallen Angel of Roses and another figure of a woman in a long red battle gown made of rose petals and wielding a sword appeared in front of Daisy before they grabbed each other's hands and nodded their heads. They flapped their wings and spun round and round in a tornado as Daisy chanted,

 _"Come forth, from the sacred land at the World's beginning! Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel descends!"_

And after their little dance, a lone figure was left.

It was an angel with two pairs of wings - the two on his right a dark violet and the two on his left crimson. His alabaster skin was decorated with gold bracelets, and golden emblems with peridot insets on his boots. The only article of clothing he wore was a white skirt with trails of white cloth dangling down his sides. His head was covered by a white helm, but his white eyes just stared deep into Eugenia's soul. (2900 ATK)

"Creepy…" April noted. " _That's_ a Plant-type monster?"

"It says so on his card," said Daisy.

"Wait, when did Fallen Angel of Roses go to the graveyard?" asked June. "Eugenia placed it back into your hand with Shinobaron Peacock's effect…"

"But I discarded her through Graceful Charity," Daisy finished. "Now Eugenia, why don't you answer this simple question? Will you be able to stop my attack with your Shinobird's Salvation card? The answer is...no! Because you don't have any Spirit monsters in your graveyard! And even then, Rosaria shuts down the effects of all face-up cards on the turn he is summoned!"

 _She's right!_ Eugenia gasped, taking note that the only monster in the graveyard was Windrose the Elemental Spirit. _I can't stop the attack!_

"Now Rosaria, attack Eugenia directly with Valhalla Harvest!"

Rosaria raised his hands into the air and a sword with a blade that was the same coloration of his wings appeared. He flapped his wings before flying towards the other side of the field and performed a powerful slash that formed a tear in Eugenia's maroon suit all while the triplets, Ari and Humphrey cheered.

 **(Daisy: 2900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 1900)**

"And I end it with two face-down cards," said Daisy, emptying her hand. "

Eugenia snarled as she drew her card. "For my move, I…"

"Summon Nikitama and Shinobird Crane from your hand," Daisy finished with a yawn.

Eugenia frowned. "Very perceptive," she muttered as she did exactly as Daisy predicted. "But my next move will prove you wrong. I play Pre-Preparation of Rites!"

She slapped the card onto the Duel Disk, depicting Ritual Raven happily devouring a massive feast laid out in front of it, unaware of three cultists in black hooded robes looking on.

"This card allows me to take a Ritual Spell and an appropriate Ritual monster into my hand," Eugenia explained, taking two more cards into her hand. "Now, I play it! Go Shinobird's Calling!"

For the third time this duel, Shinobird's Calling graced the field. Daisy rolled her eyes.

"And for this, I offer both Nikitama and Shinobird Crane to unleash my monster!"

Both of Eugenia's Spirit monsters were sucked into the Ritual Spell card as a gust of peacock feathers blew across the field once more.

"Not Shinobaron again," Daisy grumbled. "Do something new for a change!"

Eugenia smirked as she pointed to her Shinobird Salvation card. "I _am_."

Daisy blinked as she saw the two monsters on the Continuous Trap Card, but then recalled something Eugenia mentioned about the Ritual Spell Card the first time it was played.

" _This allows me to Special Summon one of_ two _Ritual Monsters from my hand, provided I offer up monsters whose combined levels equal 8."_

 _She's already summoned Shino_ baron _..._ Daisy thought. _That means she must be summoning…_

" _Mighty ruler symbolizing Vega! Weave your starry fabrics for this grand moment! Ritual Summon! Level 8! Rise, Shinobaroness Peacock!"_

Rising onto the field is a woman dressed in robes similar to that of her spear counterpart, with raven hair falling to her waist and a crown that looks similar to a peacock topping her head. The sleeves of her robe has much more green around the feather pattern and in her right hand is a fan that shaped like, surprise, peacock feathers. The expression on her face is more relaxed than Shinobaron's. (2500 ATK)

"Shinobaroness Peacock's effect activates! Now I can return up to three Spell or Trap cards you control back into your deck!"

Shinobaroness Peacock's eyes glittered as she prepared her fan, ready to blow Daisy's cards away.

"I don't think so," said Daisy. "I activate the effect of my face-down card, Memory Loss!"

Her card flipped over, revealing the Trap Card that shows Memory Crush King clutching his head in agony as white orbs - memories - float away from him.

"Since your monster is in attack position and activating its effect, I can negate said effect and place it into Defense Mode! Sorry if I ruined your Baroness' big moment!"

Shinobaroness Peacock gasped and clutched her head in pain before falling to her knees. (3000 DEF)

"And the rules say you can only have 3 copies of one card in your deck," Daisy continued. "So you can't summon Shinobaron Peacock from your hand since all of your calls are now dead!"

"Do you think that will stop me?!" Eugenia fumed. "First off, since Nikitama was sent to the graveyard, I get to draw one card."

Eugenia did just that.

"And next, I play my face-down card, Advanced Ritual Art!"

Her face-down card flipped, depicting a black cloaked person in the middle of some altar similar to Stonehenge, raising his hands into the air as bolts of green lightning strike a strange mystical circle.

"This card can be used as a substitute for _any_ Ritual Spell, but I must send Normal Monsters from my deck whose level equals the monster I wish to summon straight to the graveyard. I offer the two scantily-dressed Harpie Ladies in my deck to bring back Shinobaron Peacock one last time!"

The spirits of two Harpie Lady monsters appeared by Eugenia's side before they were sucked into her Spell Card. Then, Shinobaron Peacock emerged, glaring at Daisy's Fallen Angel with a look that could melt ice. (3000 ATK)

"And you already know what my Baron is capable of, right?" said Eugenia.

Daisy said nothing as she watched Rosaria the Stately Fallen Angel bounce back to her hand before Hebo, Lord of the River appeared once more, chuckling. (1800 ATK)

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" said April. "Aunt Daisy is in trouble."

"And even if she survived, we still have to knock some sense into Eugenia's thick skull of hers," said May. "June, you got anything in that book of yours that can help?"

"I'm searching but I found nothing!" said June, chucking the book and looking up stuff on her phone.

"Shinobaron Peacock! Attack!" Eugenia cried.

Shinobaron Peacock unsheathed his sword before flying towards Daisy once more.

"If this attack lands, that's it!" April gasped. "Aunt Daisy is DOOMED!"

But as the attack neared, Daisy didn't look worried at all. Instead, she said, "I activate my face-down card, Attack Guidance Armor to redirect this attack onto Hebo, Lord of the River! This is for making me Synchro Summon Black Rose Moonlight Dragon for nothing!"

Eugenia's eyes bugged out of her head as some type of breastplate with a demonic face flew onto her Ritual Monster. Shinobaraon paused for a moment before he turned around, sword in the air as he brought it down on his fellow Spirit monster. Hebo dropped the shirikodama in alarm before he was sliced in half.

 **(Daisy: 2900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 700)**

"OOOH!" Eugenia fumed, seeing her lifepoints tumble. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate hate hate hate _hate you Daisy Duck_!"

"The feeling's mutual!" Daisy replied. "And you have no other cards in your hands to set so end your turn."

Eugenia snarled as both Shinobaron returned to her hand. Then, two Shino Tokens appeared in Shinobaron's place. (1500 DEF)

 _This is bad._ Daisy thought, drawing a card. _I may have stopped Shinobaron, but if I don't do anything next turn, Eugenia could attack with Shinobaronness and another monster of her choosing! But if I destroy Shinobaroness and attack directly, she can use Shinobird's Salvation to banish Shinobaroneess negate the attack! No matter what I do, I'm stuck! This is just like what happened in Shangri-la with Donald and his…_

When Daisy looked at the card she drew, a lightbulb lit up in her head.

 _Maybe I don't have to attack her at all! I could just use her_ own _cards against her!_

"I place one card face-down," said Daisy, placing a card into her Duel Disk. "That's it."

"That's it?" asked Eugenia, drawing a card. "I knew that you were desperate. So, I'll make this simple. I place Shinobaroness Peacock in Attack Mode."

Shinobaroness Peacock rose, fanning herself. (2500 ATK)

"And then, I'll summon Shinobird Pigeon in Attack Mode!"

With a squawk, a humanoid pigeon in an orange shirt with a yellow vest and brown pants appeared. In his right hand was a pen made from a peacock feather and he carried a stack of papers in his left hand. Covering his eyes were a pair of glasses. (1000 ATK)

"Now then, my monsters," Eugenia chuckled. "End the duel with a direct attack!"

Shinobaroness Peacock smirked as she prepared her fan. Then, she brought her arm back before spinning round and round, creating a hurricane of peacock feathers heading towards Daisy. Daisy didn't bring her arms to protect herself. Instead, she brought an arm out.

"I activate my face-down card, Cemetery Bomb!" she said. "And when this card activates, you lose one hundred points of damage for every card in your graveyard. And guess what? Thanks to your obsession for Ritual Summoning, there's eleven cards in there!"

"And Eugenia only has 700 lifepoints!" said June. "That means…"

"Aunt Daisy wins!" The girls cheered. Ari and Humphrey hugged the girls in joy.

"Sayonara!" said Daisy, blowing Eugenia a kiss.

Eugenia looked at her Duel Disk beeping three times before she is engulfed in an explosion. She dropped onto the ground in pain as the last of her lifepoints disappear.

 **(Daisy: 2900) - - - - - - - (Eugenia: 0)**

Daisy sighed as she saw Shinobaronness Peacock stare at her with a grateful look in her eye before vanishing. That was too close.

"You did it! You did it!" Her nieces cheer as they race out of the cabana. Ari and Humphrey also join in lifting Daisy into the air.

"Calm down, everyone!" said Daisy as she was lowered by Humphrey. "We're still not done yet. That Hector character could appear any minute to...GAH!"

Once again Daisy was lifted off of her feet thanks to Eugenia, the peacock woman snarling, her eyes still that eerie green color. She struggled to escape, but it was absolutely hopeless, like how one is going to hit the ground thanks to gravity.

"I can't lose to you!" Eugenia snarled. Just as Humphrey was about to charge forward, Eugenia gripped her hands into fists, causing Daisy to choke. "One small step and…"

"Look out!" April shouted.

Eugenia snarled. "I'm not going to fall for that little trick."

"No, look out!" said June. "A limo's coming your…"

Eugenia only had enough time to turn her head before a limo crashed into her, sending her sprawling onto the road by a few feet. Daisy dropped to her knees and gasped for air.

"Oh my gosh!" said the limo driver, leaving the car. The duck had orange hair and wore an aviator's outfit. "Is she okay? I was distracted over - "

"Launchpad!" Daisy exclaimed, glad to see a familiar face. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was chauffeuring these three girls here due to...that," Launchpad answered, pointing to the scorch marks of the giant spider.

"Why does everyone keep mentioning that?" asked May with a sigh.

"There's no time to waste," said Webby, leaping out of the limo. Eugenia looked worse for the wear; aside from the tears on her suit thanks to the duel, she wasn't blinking her eyes at all. "We need to call an ambulance, stat!"

"Who are you?" asked Daisy, seeing Lena and Violet poking their heads out of the limo.

"Oh, these are my friends," Webby answered. "Lena de Spell and Violet Saberwing, meet Daisy Duck. Daisy Duck, meet Lena de Spell and Violet Saberwing."

"Yo," said Lena.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Daisy," said Violet with a bow.

"Introductions later, saving this person's life now!" said June, pulling out her phone.

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

Minutes later, an ambulance arrives to take Eugenia away.

As Launchpad explained what had happened to Uncle Scrooge - and hearing his boss cursing up a storm for how much he would have to pay for Eugenia's medical bills - April, May and June started up a conversation with Webby and her friends. Ari and Humphrey were on the look out for Hector or any other black cloaked stranger ready to strike. Daisy just looked at Eugenia's unconscious body being carried into the ambulance with pity. For all of Eugenia's nastiness, she didn't deserve this fate.

"I just hope Donald and the others are doing okay," said Daisy, watching as the ambulance sped away, its siren wailing to let people know that a person needed medical help and fast. This would be pretty awkward to explain at the next New Quackmore Institute meeting. "I wonder how their training with those Kaibas has been going?"

"Well, why don't we find out?" asked April, picking up the silver hand mirror. Violet looked at it in curiosity as April asked, "Xandra? How's everything going on in your end?"

"Not good," Xandra replied, face staring back at the six girls. She looked in confusion for a second before explaining, "It's chaos in Kaibaland!"

"Chaos?" The girls asked as Xandra pointed her mirror to a scene of absolute chaos. People running in terror as a large dragon with vines and red glowing orbs on its body unleashed a powerful roar while strange black flowers were swallowing victims whole. The most confusing part was that 1) there was a lavender haired girl dressed like Alice Liddell riding the dragon, 2) Donald was quacking mad, shaking a fist and kicking the dragon's tail and 3) children around their age riding futuristic cars while slicing vines or freezing them.

"Yes, chaos!" Xandra repeated. "And apparently, there's more of those Dark Signers here!"

"More of them?" asked June. "We just met up with one named Hector who sicced Eugenia on us!"

"Who are these strange cloaked people?" asked Lena.

"That's what we're trying to find out," said Xandra. "But you guys are _not_ gonna believe how this all started..."

As more and more chaos ensued behind the Goddess of Adventure, the six girls looked at one another before they simultaneously folded their arms over their chests and glared at Xandra.

"Try us," said May.

Xandra sighed. "Very well, I guess you can say it began just after I finished dueling a mannequin with nails for teeth…"

* * *

" _I Understood That Reference!"_

 _The Happy Helpers group and Hotdog Hill is a reference to the cartoon "Mickey and the Roadster Racers". Chef Oxley and his "Menu Makeover" was the focus of one episode. (Fun fact: Chef Oxley is actually a reference to Gordan Ramsay and even voiced by him, no joke!)_

" _Now that's a katana!" - comes from the first episode of RWBY Chibi when Ruby reads through one of Blake's books that has a centerfold._

 _The names that May give the alebrijes are from cartoons with Hispanic characters: Maya and Miguel come from the titular PBS Kids show, Dora and Diego come from "Dora the Explorer" and "Go Diego Go" on Nick Jr and Victor and Valentino are from the new Cartoon Network show "Victor and Valentino"_

" _You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!" From Tim Burton's Batman film._

 _Daisy mentioning 'The Crow' is a reference to the comic book series (and later a film and short lived TV series) of the same name. Most people would be familiar with the first film, if only for how its main star passed away by an accidental gun prop._

" _See you later, Baron Grinit!" This name is a reference to the "Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?" game show. Said Baron was one of her VILE henchmen._

 **0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

 _ **Next time: Kaibaland is hosting two dragons, a couple of Dark Signers, three Caballeros, a Goddess of Adventure and a whole lot of chaos in a single afternoon! Our heroes must work together to calm everyone down as they get a first look at the enemies that they are facing. And Donald Duck must work with someone whose temper is known to be worse than his in a tag team duel against a pair who prove that even love can conquer death.**_

 _ **And even after calming everything down, this is only the beginning of what is to come.**_

" _ **Unstoppable Rage" coming soon.**_


End file.
